


Taking the Long Way Home

by babyblueglasses



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Apples of Idunn, Arguing, Banter, Bathtub Sex, Character Study, Clones, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fast Cars, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, Insecurity, Jealousy, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Mischief, Nonsense, Pets, Truth Spells, blatant disregard towards infinity gems, relationship dynamics, sometimes frostiron gets dysfunctional let's be aware of that okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2017-12-22 04:20:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 75
Words: 215,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/908851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyblueglasses/pseuds/babyblueglasses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of stories from Tony and Loki's travels across the realms that managed to weave into one larger story.</p><p>Tone, tags, and ratings will vary (from general to explicit) depending on the chapter. The author will not be held responsible for the antics of any rams impishly enchanted by mischievous gods or the consequences there of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Thought We Said No Pets

**Author's Note:**

> This is an assortment of different frostiron stories that you can follow along with from the beginning or cherry-pick at your leisure. Tone and content range from candy fluff to dark and twisted depending on the chapter. All of the chapters do fit together into a larger story.
> 
> There are prompts, requests, 1-2 chapter arcs, and short pieces comprising Tony and Loki's travels across the realms.
> 
> Generally, chapters will be titled according to their tags and ratings will vary from general to explicit.  
> This fic is only available on aO3 and cannot be posted, duplicated, or copied anywhere else.

“What is that?” Tony lowered the musty (and likely stolen) book he’d been reading to stare disapprovingly at the bloody plastic bag in Loki’s hands. 

“Meat,” the god replied nonchalantly, dropping it onto the table. He loosened the hounds tooth scarf from around his neck before setting it down and turning his attention to his coat buttons. Tony debated whether or not he wanted to prompt the god and find out what it was. Sometimes he was happier not knowing. 

Loki slung his coat over the back of one of the chairs at the table. The plastic crinkled loudly as he picked it up, trailing a steady pool of blood behind him as he walked into the adjacent room. Begrudgingly, Tony closed the book. 

He followed, slowly, before poking his head around the corner of the doorframe to see what was transpiring. Loki was crouched on the ground, gently opening the plastic bag on the floor so that a tiny, white creature could devour the bloody flesh. 

“What the hell did you do to that?!” Tony blurted it out, unable to contain himself at the sight of the tiny ram tearing at the meat, staining its fluff crimson. The creature had been given to the god, a few months prior, as a parting gift from Tony’s teammates. It had only been a doll then. 

“A complicated enchantment spell,” Loki said, pride skittering across his words. As the ram finished its meal its attention turned towards Loki’s outstretched hand. The god grinned affectionately as the small creature laid down onto his palm. It was only slightly larger than the god’s hand, and most of its mass was composed of its fluffy exterior. The golden helmet that was not unlike Loki’s had remained intact, though it too was blood specked now. 

Tony dragged in a slow, pacifying breath. “Why’d you turn that thing into a gremlin?” 

“It’s not a gremlin, it’s a ram,” Loki said, stroking its fur. Its beady black eyes closed. 

“We didn’t discuss pets,” Tony said. 

“We’re discussing them now,” Loki said. “And the answer is that we have one.” 

“No,” Tony said. He crossed his arms, feeling a bit paternal as he did so. “We are not. Turn that thing back into the adorable beenie baby that it was or so help me---“ 

“Thing?” Loki said. He stood up from the floor finally, holding the ram close to his chest as he did. “You’re calling it a thing now?” 

“Don’t try and play that card,” Tony said. “It is a thing, and it was a thing before you went abra cadabra all over it, and you are not going to get on my case about the feelings of some stuffed animal.” 

Loki brushed past him in the doorframe, showily stroking the ram’s fur. Once he was back in their kitchen he set it down on the floor. Tiny clopping sounds echoed across the room as it ran off, to sleep beneath a sofa or cause mischief in one of the low lying corners of the room. Tony followed him. 

“First of all,” Tony said, “Weird.” He exaggerated his uncomfortable expression, widening his eyes as he glanced over at the ram, which was gnawing on a sofa leg. “Secondly, unnecessary. And weird. And creepy.” 

Loki had chosen to ignore him. Sitting down at the table, he stretched one of his arms across the back of the chair, flaunting his neck as he did. “You just fed that thing a bag of blood,” Tony said. 

“It needs to feed on some sort of life matter to maintain the enchantment. It only needs to be fed once every few weeks,” Loki said. 

“It gives me the creeps,” Tony said. 

“Everything you’ve seen and that gives you the creeps,” Loki said, mocking Tony’s American accent as he said the last few words. 

“Yes,” Tony said enthusiastically. 

In the months since their departure from Avengers Tower, Loki had chosen to bring Tony along for a ride through the more extravagant realms of the universe. Mainly to watch the man’s draw drop repeatedly, but also to show him off occasionally. It was only this week that they’d stopped for a break, seeking accommodations in a relatively modest living quarters on a planet Tony couldn’t name. 

Tony had sat down at the table across from him. “What are you going to do with that thing?” 

“First I shall name it,” Loki said. 

“How about ‘not happening,” Tony suggested. 

“Maybe I’ll name it Tony,” Loki said. “Though it’s a tad better behaved than its name sake is being.” 

“I hope you can say the same of it in bed,” Tony said, standing back up. He didn’t look at Loki, though he was dying to, knowing damn well that his words would hit their mark. “Being my replacement and all.” 

He could hear Loki suck in a breath as he turned his back, heading for the bedroom door. “Stark,” he said in a strangled bark, “I fail to see why this should upset you.” Tony knew the look on his face without turning around. It was that vaguely condescending, stubbornly impatient, poorly restrained face that had been appearing with greater frequency as Tony challenged his reasoning more often. The man was learning rapidly, growing accustomed to the mysteries of the universe in the way that Loki had, and that inquiring curiosity of his had never been abandoned. 

“You didn’t maybe think that enchanting a flesh eating doll would bother me?” He turned around, wearing his own brand of incredulity and sarcasm. “Didn’t think it worthy of mention?”

Loki closed his eyes, taking in a breath. “Admit it amuses you Stark.” 

Admit? Tony would hardly _admit_ anything. What he’d _noticed_ , if not somewhat affectionately (he knew far better than to ever recognize that in front of Loki) was that the god had kept the simple thing, and was now giving it life in his own, twisted way. Was it amusing? That was a more difficult question. Could that thing kill him? He had his doubts. Tony turned his attention onto the little ram. 

The creature had fallen asleep, and had he not known otherwise, he would’ve thought it unanimated. It wouldn’t hurt to keep the pet, he supposed. At the very least it would keep Loki entertained. That was always a good thing. Okay, maybe it was a tiny, tiny bit amusing. As off putting as it was. And Tony liked the way that Loki had smiled at it when he’d picked the ram up, and he wanted to see that smile again. Still, did Loki have to be so very difficult about it? 

“Ask me permission,” Tony said. 

Loki’s lips pursed into an unpleasant scowl. “I’ll say yes,” Tony told him, “but I want you to ask.” 

“Why should I ask when I already know the answer,” Loki said. He was refusing to look at Tony, but the man knew it would work in his favor. He’d play along. 

“Because,” Tony said. “You need to ask. When it’s something that’s going to affect both of us, you need to ask. Flesh eating ram. Need to ask.” 

Loki stared at the ceiling as if it were a detailed mosaic. Tony walked back over to the table and sat down. “Come on,” he prompted. 

“No,” Loki said. “I will not be---”

“Then I guess you don’t need me around tonight?” Tony asked, cutting him off. He knew that speech. “It seems like an easy decision. You get to keep that thing, I’m happy, and only good things can happen when I’m happy,” Tony said suggestively. “So,” he said, popping the word, “just ask.” 

Tony was infuriatingly good at this. Though Loki would never admit it, not even to himself, he appreciated that Tony’s stubborn recklessness and quick quips could get in his way sometimes. Tony was many things, but he was not boring, and there were few that Loki could say that of. Not that he enjoyed that in the present moment, when the man was challenging him so expertly. 

Loki reached his hand across the table to tauntingly run his fingertips across Tony’s arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake. “Tell me I can keep it,” Loki commanded him, tilting his head and blinking his eyes in a beguiling way that he knew got to Tony. “Go on,” he said, dropping his voice, bringing his fingertips across the collarbone beneath Tony’s shirt. “Tell me.” He tapped at the arc reactor. 

“No,” Tony said flatly. “Ask.” 

His pointer finger slowly tapped upon the arc reactor. Tony watched Loki’s face, taking in the thin curl of his lips, the calculating gaze in his averted emerald eyes, the soft flip of inky black hair that Tony knew would be his to run his fingers through in a few minutes. 

They’d been playing this game between themselves more and more often. Tony won about half of the time. He knew he’d won this round. He could feel Loki’s pointer finger circling the arc reactor, pressing into his chest, dragging it out. Not that either of them particularly minded losing this game. It was a win-win situation anyway. Only the game made it interesting. 

“The ram is mine to keep, is it not, Tony?” His eyes flicked up towards the man. 

“That sounds like a statement to me,” Tony said. He leaned back into the chair, exposing his chest further, flaunting full range before Loki’s persuasive fingers. The god’s hand retreated. 

“It seems you wish to keep a pet.” 

“Nope.” 

“I think it best that we keep the creature.” 

“Not any closer,” Tony said, pouting his lips wryly. 

Loki let out a very loud, stubbornly antagonistic sigh. “Shall we keep the little beast?” 

“You’re almost there,” Tony said. 

“This will cost you Stark,” Loki promised. 

“Threats won’t work either,” Tony said casually. He was enjoying this far too much. Loki could bring home five hundred little monsters if it meant that Tony got to play this with him. 

Besides, now that Tony considered it, the whole thing had probably come about as a sneaking call for attention. 

Tony flexed his arm as he brushed his hair back, raking the pointy ends through his fingers. He was trying his best to control the smirk at the corner of his lips. He couldn’t have Loki see an opportunity to turn the tables in his favor. 

“You will allow me to keep it, won’t you?” 

“So, so close,” Tony said. “Go on. Say, ‘may I keep the ram Tony, my handsome, genius, flawless lover?” Loki scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes. 

“Go on,” Tony said. He wetted his lips, waiting. He caught Loki’s eyes dart in a involuntary glimpse towards the motion. 

“May I keep it?” Loki asked, quickly sprinting across the words. Tony paused, debating whether to ask the trickster to repeat it more slowly. No, it was good enough. He might lose if he dragged it out further, and it had taken him months to get Loki to give in to him so quickly. Tony was ready to call the game. 

“Yes,” Tony said. 

They had come to a halt. A daunting smirk had taken hold of the corner of Tony’s lips, one that Loki had every intention of conquering. Both could feel their heart rates climbing, both too stubborn to fold. 

“I said that would cost you Tony,” Loki said, leaning forward and resting his chin on his open hand. 

“And I said no threats,” Tony said. He stood up from the table, stretching his arms wide so that his t-shirt rode up, exposing his bare stomach. “Besides,” he said, “I’m the one that just let _you_ keep a pet, so I think you’re the one that should be thanking me.” He let that smirk burst into a wide grin. It was met by one of Loki’s own, though his was far more devious. He rose up from the table. Tony began walking towards the bedroom. “You really need to choose a new name for it though,” Tony said. 

“And what would that be?” Loki asked, coming up alongside Tony. 

“Hmm,” Tony said, stopping in the doorframe. He reached over and took a lock of Loki’s hair in his hands, running it through his fingers like a curling ribbon as the god’s eyes watched. “It does have your helmet,” Tony said. “It seems to me,” he said, tilting Loki’s head to expose his neck, “that it takes more after you.” He pressed his lips to the god’s throat. “Don’t you think?” 

“Hardly,” Loki said, swinging his arm over to catch the door handle. “I decide who chooses the name, Stark,” Loki said. 

“We’ll see about that,” Tony replied. 

“Oh we shall,” Loki said, pushing the man past the doorframe and into the room. The door slammed shut behind him. 

Outside the creature stirred, awakened by the sound, but it returned to sleep quickly, content in its oblivion.


	2. We'd Have to Give Him a Name

Tony rolled over in bed, waking up. The room was warm, and darker than he remembered. Beside him he could make out Loki’s sleeping form, though in the dimness his features were difficult to discern. A hot sweat had taken over Tony, and he peeled his shirt from him, sitting up in the bed.

He fumbled his way to the door, growing more irritated with each step. His foot bumped into the doorframe before he found the handle. A hushed, frustrated moan of pain followed. He softly clicked the door closed behind him as he walked into the kitchen. 

Blinking in the hazy kitchen lighting, Tony fumbled through the cabinets, searching for a glass. They were all empty. He spotted an empty glass on the counter and filled it, walking over to the table. Slumping into the chair, he leaned forward, until his head was resting against the table. 

Everything was spinning and foggy. He considered calling for Loki, but lost the thought in the next instant as his head tumbled into nausea. It would be fine, he just had to close his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his sides, pulling in shaky breaths. A cold bead of sweat dripped down his face.

His abdomen felt swollen, he thought. He kneaded his fingers softly across his bare skin, attempting to soothe himself. It was going poorly. Everything ached. The cool kitchen table was some relief, being pressed to his cheek as it was, but it did nothing to relieve the seesawing need to vomit. 

He shouldn’t have eaten whatever bizarre thing it was that Loki had brought home for dinner. Surely there must’ve been something bland and greasy in the universe that Loki could’ve brought home instead. Tony wasn’t a picky eater, just a normal one, as he’d argued with Loki a thousand times before when the god chided him on his picky (unpretentious, Tony argued) eating habits. 

Tony winced, pulling in another shaky breath. This was going south fast. He needed to do something, he needed to find medicine or something. Anything. This was well on its way to being the worst food poisoning of his life. He ran his hand over his bare stomach again. He stopped. He pressed his hand to his stomach again. No, lower. His heart rate shot off, beating like thunder against his chest. 

He sat up in the chair, his head spinning as he did, to look at his abdomen. Panic flushed through Tony. A strained, terrified whine built up in his throat until it shot out like steam from a boiling kettle, breaking past his gritted teeth and into the quiet room. His abdomen was huge. 

He heard the bedroom door swinging open. In seconds Loki’s tall figure arched down over him, pressing his cold hands to Tony’s forehead. 

“You’re such a baby about this,” Loki said, not unkindly. He leaned down, wrapping his arms around Tony’s chest and resting his head on Tony’s shoulder. “I was much better.” 

“About what?!” Tony said, his voice still panicky and tight. “There’s, there’s a, I am going to die,” Tony whined. “Look at me,” he said, tilting into frustrated anger. Was Loki blind or stupid or both? Surely he saw? 

“I am looking at you,” Loki said. 

“My stomach,” Tony snapped. 

“That’s not your stomach,” Loki said, unwrapping his arms. “Tony, you’ve been this way for months, you’ve only got a little longer.” He sat down in the chair beside Tony and began kneading one of his hands along Tony’s thigh and knee. 

“What are you talking about?” Tony said, faltering between panic and anger again. 

Loki stared at him, his lips pressed down in curious restraint. Tony felt Loki's fingers brush alongside his face as Loki continued to stare at him, uncertain. “Did you forget that we’re having a baby?” He said at last. 

“What,” Tony blurted out. 

Loki’s head titled to the side, his eyes narrowing. “What, what, what,” Tony said, his words shooting off into an incoherent train of shock. “That’s not possible!” Tony rubbed furiously at his face, blinking rapidly. "But...science," he moaned. Loki leaned away from Tony and ran his fingers through his own hair, tilting his head back and away. 

“How? When?” Tony demanded. “I don’t remember this!” 

“I don’t think I was like this,” Loki muttered. 

“Loki!” Tony stood up, wavering in the movement. He swore that he’d become more swollen in seconds. 

Loki’s hand caught his, gently pulling him back down. The god lowered his head to Tony’s abdomen, closing his eyes. “You’re going to be just fine,” he said. 

“You’re insane,” Tony said. “This is insane. And impossible. Completely impossible.” He looked around himself frantically, noticing that the glass he’d set on the table was gone. And that was not at all the way the kitchen had looked that afternoon. Though, he couldn't recall what it _had_ looked like. 

Loki sat back up, gently brushing the hair back on Tony’s head. “You’re going to be fine,” he said. 

“We’re naming him Andor and he’ll be incredible. Just like his parents,” Loki said, tenderly running his hands across Tony’s abdomen in a way so intimate that it terrified Tony. Because it wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t possible. 

“We’re naming him Andor,” Tony said. Andor. That name was familiar. He knew that name. 

Tony sat up in the bed for the second time that night. Instantly his hand was at his abdomen, and it encountered nothing but skin and muscle. Relieved, Tony let out a loud sigh. Then he jumped, startled. Loki had just said something beside him. 

“What are you doing,” Loki mumbled louder, his back still to Tony. 

“Not being pregnant,” Tony said. Loki’s eyes opened in the dark, but he did not move. “That doll of yours gave me nightmares,” Tony’s voice said beside him. 

“Andor,” Loki corrected him. His eyes remained opened but his muscles relaxed slightly. “You had a nightmare about Andor.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, his voice becoming sunnier as the dream lost its threat. “Totally thought I was pregnant. Not with a ram though,” Tony said. “A baby. And you were all, ‘I did this better’ and whatever.” Tony laughed. “I think that means that my subconscious thinks you’re better suited to raising that ram. And you are. You’re the one that enchanted it. Seriously though, no more pets okay? This one really did a number on my brain.” 

Tony glanced down at Loki in the bed. His back was still turned away and he wasn’t responding or laughing. Tony realized he’d woken Loki up to babble about an incoherent dream. It must’ve been the middle of the night.

“Sorry to wake you up,” Tony said, lying back down. “Don’t worry about it. Just a subconscious scramble of nonsense. Not important. It’s impossible anyway.” He laughed softly, nervously. He felt horribly guilty for waking Loki up now. 

“Goodnight,” Tony said, rolling over. Guilt gnawed at him. The god was probably furious but holding it in, just barely tolerating Tony’s chatter. Why'd he have to wake him up? Tony closed his eyes, hoping that Loki would be able to fall back asleep quickly. A while later his own snores began echoing through the room. 

Loki listened to them as he stayed still, his eyes open in the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Activate undefined Loki canon...  
> Thanks to Akuma_River who made mention of an mpreg prompt. I don't know mpreg all that well, but I think Tony doesn't get as much of a turn at being the one carrying the kid(?), so I wanted to give him the chance. In a roundabout way of course. We...might return to this. Later.


	3. Unsavory Uses for Magic

Ka-thump. Clink, clink, clank. 

Loki bit down on his lip, rolling his eyes furiously. 

“You’re the one that insisted on it,” Tony said behind him from within the Iron Man suit. “And don’t. I know you’re making that look.” 

“How can you possibly know,” Loki said, “when my back is to you?” 

Tony knew from the tight line of Loki’s annoyed shoulders, but he wouldn’t let on. “Genius, remember?” Tony asked. 

“How could I forget?” Loki said drably. The Iron Man suit thumped along behind him, creating a racket of mechanical maneuverings. He drew in a long, tight breath. The suit had been a compromise. Tony wouldn’t let Loki leave without him, and Loki wouldn’t let Tony come along to such a place, being the fragile mortal that he was. 

He’d had every intention of leaving that morning and returning before the man awoke, but Tony had beaten him to the punch. Perplexingly, frustratingly, Tony had woken up before Loki. He had already been sitting in the kitchen, having a cup of coffee, when Loki had woken. 

Tony knew Loki was going somewhere the moment he’d walked into the kitchen. Loki came up with a thousand excuses, none of which had satisfied Tony. 

Tony hadn’t bought a single one of his lies, and time had not been on his side. He’d had to opt for the truth because Tony wouldn’t have anything else, and was insisting on coming along. This passageway only opened once every few years, and only for a few hours at that. So he’d given in to Tony’s demands to come along, but with a condition. 

“Hey, I offered to leave the suit at home,” Tony said. 

“Yes,” Loki said, stepping down from a crumbling ledge of rocks, “but what would you protect yourself with were you to not have the suit?” The passageway was becoming narrower, and their voices (and raucous robotic walking) echoed off the stone walls. “Besides me of course,” he said with a drawl. 

“I made this suit in a cave,” Tony said. “And I could protect myself without it. If you weren’t such a mother hen.” 

Loki chuckled derisively. “What? You’d protect yourself wearing a hoodie?” 

“Something like that,” Tony said. “Maybe I’d make a run to the hardware store first, but yeah. I could do it.” The tunnel turned up ahead, and they could both see a faint light cast along the stone. “Besides,” Tony said, “I’d like to see you without your magic for a day.” 

“I would be just as threatening without it,” Loki replied instantly. 

“Sure,” Tony said. 

Loki stumbled along the path, catching his balance against the wall. Tony let out a faint snicker. “Uh-huh,” Tony said. 

“Stark,” Loki warned, walking forward. 

“Yes,” Tony replied in sing-song. Loki rolled his eyes. They approached the turn in the tunnel. 

“Now recall,” Loki said, “what I said about this.” 

“Hands and feet inside the ride at all times,” Tony said. “Got it.” Loki turned around, but it was impossible to read the metal mask. He gave Tony a stern look anyway, before turning his attention on the door in front of them. 

It swung open with a loud creak, dull white light flooding the passageway as it did. “Wow,” Tony said. 

Inside was a large, sweeping cavern, crammed from head to toe with oddities. It was a forgotten storage locker and museum all at once. Tony’s eyes fell upon a ship in the distance. Doubtless, it was a technology more advanced than Earth. Perhaps he could reverse engineer it. 

“I left it somewhere,” Loki muttered, walking along. He stooped down, peering between piles of books and boxes, careful not to touch anything. As he’d told Tony, one could only retrieve items they’d left themselves, and the consequences otherwise were nothing to be laughed at. 

“What’s this for?” Tony asked, pointing at something. 

“That’s an alethiometer,” Loki said, glancing down at the clock-like item. “It’s useless for us. It can’t work in this realm.” 

“And this?” Tony asked, gesturing at a pointed brown hat, which, when he examined it closely, seemed as though its folds had created a face. 

“A hat,” the hat replied. “It’s rather rude to point, don’t you think?” 

Loki turned away, hiding a smirk from Tony. The man’s armored arm had dropped down to his side, and Loki was certain that his mouth was hanging open inside that suit. 

“That’s---“ Tony looked over at Loki but then figured the allusion was lost on him anyway. “Tell me what house I’d be in,” Tony said. 

“Didn’t you listen to him,” the hat said with a flicker of amusement, “you can’t touch things that don’t belong to you? And believe me, the consequences are unpleasant.” 

Tony turned away with the faintest huff. “Not touching, just talking,” he said defensively. 

“Ah,” Loki said ahead of him, crouching down to the ground. “Someone’s placed something in front of it.” Carefully, he reached his arm around a box that did not belong to him, making contact with an item behind it. He stood tall then, holding an egg-like jewel in his hand. 

“We came here for jewelry?” Tony asked. 

“Careful,” Loki said, catching Tony’s arm and pushing him in closer to the narrow path between the towers of items. He’d nearly come into contact with a bookshelf. “And no.” 

“There were a few more things,” Loki said, slipping the egg down into his pocket. 

“How’d you find this place?” Tony asked, glancing upward. He swore that he’d just seen a pterodactyl soar by off in the distance. 

“Boredom,” Loki replied. Tony grinned. Of course he’d say that. Tony stuck close behind him. 

“And you figured out that you couldn’t take things that belong to you---“

“The hard way,” Loki confirmed. “Which is why you’re wearing the suit. Because you are---“

“Mortal,” Tony answered. 

“Precisely,” Loki said. He picked a book up from a shelf, flipping through it. After some debate he decided to take it with him this time. “Just a few more things,” Loki said, turning back the way they’d come. 

He slid a box off of a tall shelf, delicately opening the lid. With his back arched over the box, Tony couldn’t see inside. “And that is---“ Tony asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Loki replied, snapping the lid closed. He’d slipped something into his pocket. “Don’t go getting curious,” Loki said, sliding the box back onto the shelf. He knew that was futile, but he requested it anyways. He didn’t trust Tony to keep his curiosity in check, and that had only made the suit all that more necessary. 

“Sound advice,” the hat said from nearby. 

“Time to go,” Loki said, walking back towards the door. He stood aside to make sure that Tony passed him first. Once they were outside the door Tony’s faceplate lifted up. 

“First of all, very cool,” Tony said. “I’m a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a lamp. But are you really going to try and keep a secret from me?” 

“There will be no _trying_ involved,” Loki replied coolly. 

“Really?” Tony asked, gently pushing him against the wall. It would be so, so easy to just snag whatever it was from his pockets. Loki’s hand was at his wrist instantly, however, and the god had zero difficulty pushing Tony’s arm back and away, over his head. 

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Loki said, teasingly tugging Tony’s arm back and forth. Tony sighed loudly. “And, Tony, this passageway also closes itself, and unless you want to spend the next few years trapped in here, I suggest we get going.” 

Tony tilted his head back and forth, debating. Loki grinned mischievously, seemingly reading his mind. “No,” he said. 

“Maybe,” Tony said as Loki released his wrist, “I could persuade you to tell me?” 

“Who says it’s not for you?” Loki said with a smirk, walking past Tony. The man hurried to catch up alongside him. 

“You can’t say that and leave me hanging,” Tony said. “That’s just rude.” 

“Oh, I must be careful to mind my manners? Who’s the mother hen now?” 

“You still are,” Tony said, waving his arm back and forth to indicate the suit. “And yeah, definitely rude.” 

“What did you wish to persuade me with?” He glanced over at Tony, who quieted thoughtfully. They continued down the passageway in silence for a while before Tony had an answer. 

“Depends on how good your end of the bargain is,” Tony said. 

“Hmm,” Loki said, reaching down into his pocket. He pulled out the egg jewel, squeezing it in his palm gently. Tony felt a soft pulse radiate through him, soothing. “I wonder,” Loki said. Electricity sparked along Tony’s skin, oddly pleasant. 

Tony reached over and was pleased to find that Loki let him slip the jewel out from between his fingers. Turning it over in his own hands, Tony felt his curiosity amplified, then spark between them. Loki laughed beside him. He’d expected that. Then he felt something warm, something distinctly Tony. He sighed softly. “Interesting,” Tony said beside him. “So this amplifies, what? Feeling?” 

“Emotion,” Loki corrected him, taking the egg back from his hands. “And makes it possible to share.” He rolled it across his fingers thoughtfully. “Surely you can see the destructive potential in that.” 

Tony grinned carelessly. “And the beneficial potential?” 

“What was that you were saying about persuading me?” Loki asked back, dropping the egg into his pocket. 

“Well,” Tony said, stopping. “I could,” he whispered, leaning in close to Loki, letting his breath waltz around the god’s ear as he made salacious promises under his breath. “But,” he said, leaning away, “I’d rather show you.” 

“Hmm,” Loki said, frowning pensively. Tony saw that his eyes had dilated lustfully, whatever game he might try to play. “I suppose that is an adequate offer.” 

“Oh, it’s more than adequate,” Tony said, walking again. They’d come to the end of the passageway, and were standing in a mossy woods. He felt Loki’s hand slip into his, magic crackling through the pair of them, before he found himself standing in the kitchen of their temporary living quarters. 

Tony began taking off the Iron Man suit, lying its parts down on the table. “Just so you know,” Tony said, “I really don’t think this was a necessary precaution.” 

Loki rolled the egg over between his fingers, staring at Tony in a haughty, confident way that claimed righteousness in his disagreement. Tony ignored him as he unlatched a piece of his arm plate. When Tony set the last suit piece on the table, Loki turned and walked away towards the bedroom. Tony anxiously brushed his fingers through his hair, hoping that his helmet hair wasn’t as bad as it felt. 

Tony felt a wave of nervousness and uncertainty as he walked into the bedroom. “That excited, huh,” he said, crawling into bed. 

Loki glared at him. “I’ve never used it in this way before,” he said curiously. “I’m not entirely sure what will happen.” 

“What did you use it for?” Tony asked. A tiny smile flickered up in the corner of Loki’s lips. 

“Getting my way, mostly,” he said. 

“That’s vague,” Tony said. 

“It is, isn’t it?” Loki asked, and Tony felt a thrill that was not his own brush through him. 

“Whatever,” Tony said, dismissing the question. He rolled his shirt up and over his head, flaunting his chest as he did. The shirt fell to the floor. “You can tell me later.” 

“If I want to,” Loki said, watching Tony undress with a satisfied grin on his face. 

“Oh, you’ll want to,” Tony said, now dropping his boxers to the floor. He straddled himself over Loki, leaning down. “You will,” he said, slipping his fingers under Loki’s shirt and pulling it up and over his head. The god’s dark hair fell back down over his bare chest with an inky sheen. He grinned at Tony, a mischievous, reckless grin that was looking more and more like Tony’s devil-may-care grin each day. Tony unzipped his trousers, pulling them from him and tossing them to the floor. “You’re not making this any easier,” Tony told him, hooking his thumbs down into the god’s black boxers and dragging them from hips that rested firmly against the bed. 

Loki smiled. “I know,” he said. He often let Tony undress him, just to watch the delicate interplay in Tony’s face between frustration and anticipation. It was an indulgence that Tony let him get away with. 

Tony tossed the offending garment onto the floor. “Roll over,” Tony said. Loki’s lustful green eyes locked onto him, unyielding. “Don’t make me into a liar,” Tony said, leaning down and kissing the sensitive curve of his inner thigh. “I’ve made promises that I intend to keep.” 

He heard a soft, resigned sigh as the god rolled over onto his back, still clutching the egg in his right hand. Tony was immensely curious as to what the egg jewel would do, probably more so even than Loki. He wanted to understand the scientific implications, and if that meant a few more test runs, well, so be it. 

Starting slowly, Tony pressed his lips into the dip of Loki’s spine, gently teasing his way along the alabaster skin. His hot, wet tongue took pleasure in alluding to the promise that he had made, only to venture further from it. Tony could feel Loki’s anticipation, his wanting, as if it were inside his own head. It was curiously pleasant, and nothing short of overwhelming. With each press of his lips it became more difficult for Tony to discern which emotions were his, and which belonged to the being beneath him. He whispered down into the god’s ear with warm breath, “I have every intention of keeping my promise.” He kneaded one of his hands against a tense shoulder blade that eased in his touch. 

“Do you,” Loki replied more quietly, his words vanishing as Tony sucked hard at tender curve of neck meeting shoulder. He tried to muffle a moan but Tony had already heard it, already felt it. He felt Tony’s teeth push down against his skin, not quite biting but leaving a pink trail in their pointy wake. He shivered as Tony’s fingers trailed down his bare back, meandering. 

Those fingers took their time traveling across his skin, pressing into the curves of his ribs and soft flesh. Loki’s fingertips clawed slowly at the bed sheets. Tony felt knowing anticipation even before he’d finally committed, pressing his fingers down hard along the hips that were now shifting to accommodate him, the moan that was uttered as elbows braced themselves along the bed. 

“Tony,” he heard his name whispered as his fingers dug into the smooth ass cheeks spreading beneath his strong fingers. 

The man’s breath was so hot, so close, against the tight ring of him. His eyes shut and he took in a breath, aware only of the cold air against his exposed skin and the hot, wanting breath drifting across tightly held flesh. A soft, whispered groan escaped him, fleeting. Then he was moaning, loud, as that hot, wet, thick tongue pushed against him, leaving a trail of warm, slick saliva. He pressed his forehead into the pillow as a cry strangled out of his tight chest, muffled in the soft down. His face felt of fire. Tony’s groans were muffled beneath his own as the man’s tongue worked into the heat of him, as he lost himself in wanting to accommodate Tony more and more, to the shameless tilt of his hips towards that heat. 

Tony’s mind was awash with want and the flush of desire of two, the desperate urge for more. The god’s cock was heavy and aching to be acknowledged, and Tony could feel his body pulling between the need to have more and satiate desire, and it was all Tony could do not to collapse into a self-satisfied grin. His mind was spinning in a pleasurable circle. His slick, warm fingers pressed into the rim, one at first and then another, breaking loud moans and swears in a tongue Tony could not understand but knew all the same. His dripping wet fingers twisted and beckoned relentlessly. 

Loki’s hands dug hard into the mattress, fisting the sheets beneath his desperate fingers, clutching tightly onto the forgotten egg. His hands were sore as he pressed his body into the bed, yearning for friction against his aching cock, his throat going dry. Tony’s fingers had taken total control now, shoving and twisting, making his head spin. 

He cried out in a needy whine when Tony stopped, leaned forward, and pried the egg out from beneath his clasped fingers. He gasped, catching the first deep breath in ages, and then was met with the pulse of Tony’s desire, curling into him. “Shhhh,” Tony whispered as Loki turned to look over his shoulder, his face deeply flushed. Relenting, he dropped his head back down into the soft pillow, now wet with saliva from his open mouth and cries. He felt Tony’s pause before the wet push of the man’s thick cock sliding into him, filling him in a way he’d only been begging for. 

Tony was everywhere at once, around him and inside his head, throbbing inside him with each rock and thrust, lost in the rocky shuffle of incoherent words escaping their lips. Tony’s hands were digging in along his sides now, possessively palming his hips and pressing in, thrusting his cock until Loki cried out again, biting down into the wet pillow. Then Tony was coming inside him, wet come pouring inside him and triggering his own release, white stars flickering before his eyes as he felt the flood of Tony’s released lust alongside his own. 

It was a while until he was aware of his own breathing, of Tony’s weight resting against his back. Tony at last pulled out, thwumping down onto the bed beside him with a heavy sigh. Loki reached over and picked up the egg between his fingers, seeing that Tony had dropped it absentmindedly. 

Tony’s back arched as he felt the emotion that rode through him. “Oh my god,” Tony whispered, rolling over onto his side. Loki dropped the egg back onto the sheets, staring at Tony, caught. He hadn’t controlled himself, hadn’t thought about Tony feeling that. The man smiled in a way that made his toes curl in, though he desperately hated to admit it. Tony pressed his lips to Loki’s forehead. Loki felt the curve of the grinning lips against his skin. “I already knew,” Tony said, “but feeling it is completely different. I mean, damn. You’ve got it bad.” 

Tony rolled back onto his back, laughing. “For me.” 

“Shut up Stark,” Loki said, picking up the egg and gently tossing it across the room. It hadn’t had quite the effect he’d thought it could, but then again he supposed, no one had ever intended it for such purposes. Tony was laughing again. 

“You really fucking like me,” Tony said, grinning carelessly. “I should’ve taken advantage of it way sooner,” Tony said. “I could probably get you to take down a galaxy for me.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Don’t get cocky.” 

“Really, you would for me though, wouldn’t you?” 

“Maybe,” Loki said, smiling a little. He laid there, exhausted, staring up at the ceiling with his damp hair fanned around his head, his pale body thoroughly flushed. Tony had propped himself up on his elbow, grinning as he stared over at Loki. 

“That was a little more than a maybe,” Tony said. 

Loki reached his arm over and shoved him, making the man laugh again. “You are fortunate you were so adequate,” Loki said. 

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” Tony replied arrogantly. “That was way fucking better than adequate and you know it.” 

“Mhmm,” Loki said indifferently, rolling over onto his side. He felt Tony’s fingers tap along his back, playfully pressing down against his spine. 

“Mhmm,” Tony mocked him, letting his fingers trail all the way down the base of Loki’s spine. He pressed in softly. The sore flesh ached. Loki opened his mouth to argue but felt Tony’s hand rest flat against his hip a moment later. “I’m glad,” Tony said, resting his head against Loki’s back. Sometimes he worried that Loki would grow bored of him, or change his mind, or see that he was really nothing special after all and abandon him. Not all the time, not enough to really worry him, but they were thoughts that did cross his mind in darker hours. Especially on the occasions when he was reminded of his mortality. He closed his eyes, his forehead still pressed to that back.

Loki frowned, then rolled over, stroking the hair along Tony’s head. He dropped his arm down Tony’s back, holding him there. He felt Tony’s fingertips meet his chest and stay there. Saying nothing, they laid with eyes closed, both vaguely aware of crossing a familiar line together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coincidentally I finished this today and the new trailer is out, _so excited_.  
>  Also, Ravenclaw probably. Perhaps. I'm not entirely sure of my house either.


	4. To Asgard

He felt a pulsation reverberate through the circlet on his wrist, reminding him distinctly of Thor. The Asgardian was calling.

Tony had not heard anything from the team in the months since Loki and his departure. This was the first time that the enchanted bracelets the teammates shared had reverberated with any sort of call. Thoughts flooded his mind. What if someone was injured? What if there was a grave battle to be had and they needed him right now? What if something had gone wrong at the tower? What if there was a new enemy?

He tried telling himself that it was probably just Thor keeping a promise he’d made in the frenzied time leading up to their departure. Still, he worried. It had disappointed Tony that no one had called for him, though he supposed there was no real need to unless something was happening.

Now how would he answer the call? How would he get to Thor? The bracelets only informed those wearing them that someone wished to contact them.

“I know,” Loki said irritably, walking in the door and answering Tony’s questioning face. He’d gone straight to Tony when he felt the call come through. Loki took a matching bracelet off of his own wrist and dropped it onto the table where Tony was sitting, rubbing his exposed wrist. His bracelet rolled along until it hit Tony’s hand. “I’ll take you,” he said begrudgingly.

 Tony fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist before answering. “It could be important,” he said defensively.

“Or it could be nonsense,” Loki said, cracking his fingers. He snatched his own bracelet back up, slipping it onto his wrist. He’d assisted the Avengers in making the communication devices, if only to ease Tony’s mind. He didn’t particularly enjoy that Thor was the one banking in on it now. “He’s needy,” Loki said, succumbing to jealousy. He was not overly fond of the thought of Tony spending any time in his estranged brother’s company. Or rather, any company that was not his own.

“Let’s go,” Tony said, eager to take Loki up on the offer to move before the fickle god changed his mind. He felt familiar fingers come to rest on his shoulder and tighten their grip.           

 

 

“Oh,” Tony said, looking around him. The disappointment in his voice was painful to hear. They were standing in a park, and it was dawning on Tony how greatly he’d been looking forward to being back in Avenger’s Tower.

“Greetings!” Thor’s voice came, loud and confident. He swept Tony in with a  hug. His brother glared over at him with unkind eyes. Thor reached his arms out to offer another embrace but dropped them when his low expectations were met.

“Hey there,” Tony said, brightening a little. “We’re, uh, in the park,” he said, seeking an answer.

“The better to reach us,” Thor said. Loki let out a condescending huff from beside Tony. “I wish to depart to Asgard together. We are to have a great banquet, and I think it good and timely to introduce you to our family. What do you say?”

“Asgard,” Tony said calmly, sinking deeper into disappointment. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go with Thor, it was just that it was all happening so quickly and this was his first time back on Earth since they’d left. He hadn’t even had time to breathe in the air, let alone visit a single familiar place. His life had been nothing but a whirlwind of packed bags and strange places, bookended only by the steady lulls of leisurely weeks spent in rented spaces between.

“Do you not wish---”

“No,” Tony said quickly, not wanting to miss an opportunity to catch up on the lives of his friends, in whatever form it might be. He was glad to see Thor’s face again. “I do. I’ll come.” Tony glanced over at Loki. “What do you think? Wanna go?”

Loki shrugged indifferently, but Tony already knew better. “I have no desire to return to Asgard, and surely they do not wish to see a war criminal.” Thor opened is mouth to argue but Loki cut him off. “My bracelet is not defective, return whenever you wish, Tony.”

Tony’s heart beat faster, encouraged by anxiety. Loki stepped between the man and his brother then, casting a haughty look over his shoulder at Thor. He took Tony’s chin in his hand, leaning in closely. “You know where home is,” he said, brushing the pad of his thumb back and forth slowly.

A loud sigh greeted the god. Tony was not thrilled with the theatrics, though perhaps it was because he was not the one doing them. “Right back at you,” Tony said, guiding Loki’s hand away but helping himself to running his own hand down more of the god’s arm than was necessary. “Try to behave yourself while I’m gone. Lock the doors. Don’t let strangers in. Remember to feed that little monster of yours.”

There was an amused smile and then Loki was gone.

It was another few moments before Tony’s attention came back to Thor. He was staring at the man sympathetically, waiting. “Shall we be off then?” He asked, not acknowledging any else of what had just transpired.

“Sure,” Tony said, curious to see how the bifrost worked.

 

  

Queasily. That was how it worked, Tony decided, clutching his stomach as he rocketed through into unfamiliar territory. He was standing firmly on his feet, but it made little difference when his head was spinning. Thor’s arm came around to steady him. “Loki travels a little differently,” Tony said.

“Loki does everything a little differently,” an unfamiliar voice said. As things came into focus Tony’s attention sought out the speaker. His eyes came to rest on a tall, attractive man dressed in stately, imposing garments of gold.

“This is Tony Stark of Midgard,” Thor said. “Tony, this is Heimdall.”

“Greetings,” Heimdall said, looking steadily down at Tony. The stare made him feel transparent and exposed, and not the least bit comfortable.

“Hey,” Tony said, grinning.

“A room has been prepared for him,” Hemidall informed Thor, “and you are expected in an hour.”

“Thank you,” Thor said, guiding Tony away. The man looked back over his shoulder to find that the gatekeeper was still watching him, his expression illegible.

 

           

“You’ll be staying here,” Thor said, swinging open an ornate wooden door. The sweeping, large room inside was lavish and impressive, or at least it would’ve been, if Tony had seen it before his travels with Loki. The room looked laughably tame beside some of the places they’d been, but Tony thanked him nonetheless. “You may retire here or, if you wish, I could show you around.”

“Let’s do that,” Tony said. “I wanna see where you grew up.” Thor chuckled a little.

“This hall actually,” Thor said, beginning to walk again. He stopped a few paces down at another door. “This is my room,” he said, swinging the door open.

Tony stepped inside. “Wow,” he said, picking up a battered sword from a shelf. It was small, as if made for a child. The shelves were haphazardly crammed with older, nostalgic things, while the far side of the room looked more mature, empty, and unlived in. Tony set the sword back down on the shelf and noticed a framed picture. He leaned in closer. It was the same photograph he’d found crammed between pages when snooping through Loki’s library earlier that year.

“It is a little messy,” Thor said, gesturing towards the shelves.

“Looks better than my place ever did,” Tony said. In fact, now that he thought of it, Thor’s room in Avenger’s tower had a very different feel to it than this room. More lived in. “How’re things there?” Tony asked. “At the tower?”

“Much the same,” Thor said. “Would you like to see Loki’s room?”

“Yes,” Tony said, following Thor back over to the door. They walked straight across the hall to a large black door.

He was a little disappointed to find that it had been mostly cleaned out. The only personal artifacts left were books, and Tony knew that they wouldn’t be ones that Loki had cared about. He hoarded books in the same way that Tony stockpiled mechanics. Tony glanced around the room. It felt sterile.

Thor didn’t say anything as Tony was left to his own thoughts about the room. It was only when the man turned around that he offered to show him the rest of the palace. Tony took him up on the offer, filling their travels through the palace with chatter and questions. He didn’t catch Thor’s quiet, evaluating stares every so often from behind him. He was too busy anticipating meeting Thor’s parents.

 

 

 

Left to his own devices, Loki lasted approximately twenty minutes before falling into the arms of mischief. Twenty-one if you counted feeding Andor as mischief-free, although the peculiar meat he was fed argued otherwise.

It was the first time that Tony and Loki had had a real break from one another (apart from the occasional fight) and there was no designated end to it. Tony could be back in two hours or two weeks. Loki absently fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist, considering. It had taken an incredible resource of self-restraint not to go with Tony, and it would never have been a decision available to him months ago, unmarked by Tony’s influence.

There was some truth to his being a war criminal, but he knew that his mother and brother both held out hope for him, and as long as there was that he could work his way out of any situation in which Asgard turned against him. He’d done it before. They might imprison him again, but there would be mercy, and as long as there was that he could find a way out.

He’d wanted to go though, but not to see them. He wanted to protect Tony from them. Or keep Tony to himself. It did not thrill him to think of his adopted family prying into Tony’s life, and through him, Loki’s. Given his way, he would never have allowed them to meet Tony and therefore allow them in on a significant portion of his life. They didn’t deserve to be involved in any aspect of his life, especially not Tony, as far as he was concerned.

Anger bubbled up into him then. He should go get Tony right then and there. He had worked so hard to bring Tony into his life, and Tony’s time was so, so limited. How dare they take any of it from him?

Andor brushed against his feet, growling viciously. His enchantment was growing weaker. The ram snapped and bit, scampering across the floor, as Loki walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a porcelain dish.

There was a soft clink as he set it on the floor, summoning a contorted mass of flesh, peculiarly colored and still vaguely living, onto the shallow surface. He watched Andor tear in.

He needed something to do. If he sat here, his anger would deepen, and he was already annoyed at the thought of Tony returning to him, picking up on that frustration, and calling him out on it. He brought Tony to Thor because Tony had a right to visit Thor. That didn’t mean that Loki liked it. He just liked Tony’s self-righteous arguing less. And angrily, he knew that Tony would be right.

           

 

           

“We’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” Frigga said.

“Same here,” Tony said, grabbing the glass beside his plate. He wished desperately that it were something stronger than water.

“Thor has told us much about your work as the Man of Iron,” Odin said, cutting into the meat on his plate. “That you were responsible for the deciding blow in the battle of the Chitauri?”

“He’s understating his role,” Tony said, not looking up from the table. This was a topic he avoided.

“Nonsense!” Thor declared warmly. “Tony is a great warrior, and it was he that turned the tides in New York. His bravery is unmatched.”

Tony sat quietly as Thor began recounting the day, speaking only of the parts that involved crushing giant aliens and Tony’s suit. He glanced over at Odin. Tony knew that Thor understood that day, knew the darker implications for all of them. Were they just going to sit there like Loki didn’t exist? Tony took another sip from his glass. Thor knew what he was doing. He was impressing his father with Tony’s identity as a warrior.

“Though Tony is also accomplished in the ways of learning,” Thor said at last, releasing Tony.

Tony grinned in acknowledgement. “I designed the suit.” After hesitating a moment, he decided to dive into the specifics of engineering. Not because anyone at the table understood, or even cared particularly, but because as their faces glazed over it killed time and Tony knew all the words and could fill the silence, distracting himself from whatever was coming next.

He felt unbearably uncomfortable with Odin and Frigga. Not because he disliked them, exactly. They were making every effort to get to know him. He cared about Thor. He wanted to know this part of Loki’s life. It was just that Loki wasn’t there. And he should have been.

 

 

 

Loki needed a distraction, and not just any distraction. Something dangerous. Something challenging. Something that he couldn’t do with Tony there.

He told himself he was going there because he wanted to, and if he wanted to do something, he should do it. Simple as that.

That was how he found himself at the gates of a miserable cavity in an underworld, demanding to be let in.

It was a place that he’d spent a generous amount of time in after his fall from Asgard, into the bowels of space and time. He wanted to see it again, to retrieve things, to revisit familiar faces and see what excitement there was to be had.

 The gatekeepers had never had a problem letting him in before.

There were two. One, a towering griffin of solid, deep navy color, whose wings glinted in the dim, purple light. The second was a bull-like creature but with a  wide, heavy set jaw and sharp teeth, and nothing of a clever nature. It was a mahogany brown color.

“No,” the griffin repeated itself, staring down over its beak at Loki.

“I have entered these gates a thousand times before,” Loki snarled, gesturing towards the giant black arches. “And my deeds now far surpass my last entry. Surely I can be let inside.”

The griffin titled its head to the side. “No,” it said, its voice oddly charming. “You’re different than before. I’m not sure what it is, exactly.”

“It’s his face,” the bull said in a deep, detached alto.

“No,” the griffin said, tilting his head. “It’s his disposition. Surely.”

The bull considered. “His face.”

“Well,” the griffin said, rustling its wings. “Either way the answer is no.”

Loki stepped a few feet back from them and then began pacing. This was infuriating. But wonderful. It was something to do. He’d have to figure out a way inside. He paused. “No,” the griffin said, reading his mind. “Magic won’t work either.” He returned to his pacing.

The griffin settled down, watching him pace back and forth. It was a long time before any of them spoke. “Do you know what it is?” The griffin asked, boredom getting the best of it. There wasn’t much to do as a gatekeeper, after all.

“Why? Do you care to enlighten me?” Loki asked with an unkind smile. The griffin grinned a little.

“You,” the griffin said, reciting the word as though spitting out a bit of rancid food, “are weak.”

The bull muttered in agreement.

“Really,” Loki said, walking up to the feet of the griffin. “And you, a most excellent judge of character, so wise by your hours sitting, staring into the abyss, are best qualified to decide that?”

The griffin sat up, inclining its head back towards Loki, its dark eyes piercing and sharp. “You are weak,” the griffin defended itself, “because you have begun thinking outside of yourself. We have no need for you.” It left its perch to circle Loki, shrinking down in size to meet him at shoulder height. “There is something soft and detestable in you,” the griffin spat, “something valuable and unbroken. Who are you to carry such a thing?” Its wing brushed against his back. “Who are you to deserve such a thing, who has walked in our halls before? You are far worse and vile than before for you have returned to flaunt before others what they lack and have no hope of here, but even a crag of hell such as this is not so unkind to its inhabitants.”

“Ah,” Loki said dully, “your brain truly is addled by hours spent staring into nothingness.”

The griffin screeched, its cry rattling off the stonewalls.

“Am I supposed to be impressed by that gargle of nonsense?” Loki grinned darkly. “Let me propose this,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared, unmoved, at the griffin. “If I am so weak, allow me inside. Let me do what I will. If I return, I am not as weak as you propose. If I do not return, then I have only proved your rightness. A bet of entertainment for the both of us.”

“I cannot let you in,” the griffin said. “Are you stupid? Did you not hear what I said? I protect what is within as well as what is without.”

“I think you’re bored,” Loki said. “I think,” he said, stepping in close to the griffin, “that you want to see whether that little, tiny brain inside you is right. Either I am weak, or I am not. How can something weak cause destruction within an underworld? Surely you understand that is contradictory? I wonder for your sanity, I truly do.” He crossed his arms. “You have nothing to lose by allowing me in, but if I leave what have you, but empty hours, watching the worlds pass you by, waiting desperately for any to relieve you from your desolation, to give you something to do.”

The griffin tilted its head again, considering.

 

 

 

It was a half-hearted excuse from Odin that finally dismissed dinner. The relief it brought Tony was immediate. They had avoided speaking of Loki the entire time, and Tony had learned nothing new about what had happened while he was away. Thor only brought up past occurrences. He’d expected to leave the dinner with Thor, but the god left to catch up with his father, leaving Tony alone with Frigga.

His heart sank. He knew from the tiny, knowing smile at the corner of her mouth that she was the designated finder-outer-of-things, and probably the one that had inspired Loki to be so good it. “Would you care to walk the gardens?” She asked. He accepted of course. There was no other choice.

 

It was quiet outside, except for the soft hum of evening insects against the backdrop of a fading sun. Frigga said nothing as they walked through the mazes of budding hedges, passing silent guards every once in a while. Tony wasn’t certain what the customs of Asgardian royalty were, and now was not the time to be figuring that out.

“We do think of him,” Frigga said at last, her voice steady. Her tone was clipped but not finite. “Please,” she said when Tony did not answer, “put yourself at ease.” Tony fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist.

“Thor thinks very highly of you,” she said.

“He’s a good guy,” Tony said. Frigga looked at him with an inquisitive smile that Tony had seen before. “We, uh, he really helped us out a lot with the whole New York thing,” Tony said. He rubbed his nose anxiously, staring over at a rose bush.

“He has benefited from being with you as well,” Frigga said, walking ahead. Tony couldn’t read her tone easily. She sat down on a bench a few paces ahead, and gestured for him to do the same. She waited until he sat awkwardly on the carved stone, sitting a little rigidly.

“What do you think,” Frigga said, surveying the evening sky, “of your new life? Are you satisfied?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I’m really happy where I am,” he said, getting defensive.

Frigga smiled to herself, a tad wryly. “We did not bring you here to judge you. We brought you here to welcome you.” She turned, her expression a mumble of compassion and urgency. “He is still my son, and I think of his happiness. I think you every bit worthy of the praise Thor has showered upon you.”

“Thank you,” Tony said, more surprised than anything.

“How is he?” Frigga asked, her voice heavy. “You are,” she said, “our only connection to him. He has…isolated himself from us.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, not really feeling that it was his place to fill in the gaps. If Loki wanted to work on his relationship with his family, that was up to him, not Tony. He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. “He’s…good. Happier.”

Frigga nodded when Tony did not continue further. “I know,” she said, “that I put you in a difficult position.”

Tony shrugged it off. “I mean,” he said, “it’s natural for you to want to know about him.” He didn’t know what else to say, what was his place to say. There had been one or two conversations between him and Loki about the god’s parents, and they had not been easy ones. It wasn’t a subject that was brought up, and Tony adhered to that. He had no desire to delve into his own family background either.

“You are welcome here anytime,” Frigga said. “We will think of you as one of our own.”

“Thank you,” Tony said. Frigga rose up from the bench.

“Please take good care of him,” she said. Tony could not read her expression from her turned back, and her calm delivery was deceiving. He sat for a moment before he realized that she was waiting for him to follow her, to show him the way back. He had no idea what family politics he was walking into, what customs, what expectations. Was it cold or kind?

 

 

“Fine,” the griffin said at last. “If only because I think you’ll be consumed quickly, and the damage will be minimal.”

“How generous,” Loki said.

“Goodbye,” the griffin said, gesturing towards the gates. The bull pulled them open, and Loki strode in, smiling glibly at the griffin as he did.

 

 

“It’s…different than what I expected,” Tony said at last. Thor grinned, taking another swig of his ale. “Grander, but friendlier too. I mean shit, you’ve all known each other for hundreds of years, so I guess I should expect that.”

Tony took a drink of ale, knowing it would knock him flat on his ass faster than anything he’d had outside of a few very exclusive corporate parties and a frat house or two. “You’ve got to tell me,” Tony said, feeling a soft haze already, “what it’s like at the tower. I haven’t heard anything. What’s going on? How’s cap?”

“Well,” Thor said, bringing his glass to his lips and sipping it slowly.

“Well as in good or well as in there’s more to tell?” Tony demanded. Thor brushed off his mouth with the back of his rugged hand.

“Good,” Thor said, setting his glass down. “Everyone is doing well, Tony. Little has changed since your departure.”

“Okay, but what’s happening? What’s everyone doing?”

Thor took another swig, considering. Tony had never seen him nurse a drink before. “Come on,” Tony said. “Tell me. What is going on?”

“Nothing,” Thor said. “I cannot think of one event worthy of note, save perhaps Fury’s outrage at your departure. And that,” Thor said, “has been taken care of.”

“By?” Tony said, zeroing in on Thor in a way that reminded him distinctly of his brother.

Thor took another sip.

 

 

 

“That’s hardly the asking price,” said a rather obstinate looking badger. It glared up at Loki, gritting its sharp teeth back and forth.

“And where exactly do you think the buyer of that asking price is?” Loki asked, smirking down at the badger. “Here?” It stopped gritting its teeth. After a moment the badger punted the satchel forward. Loki snatched it up from around his feet and dropped a small satchel of fruit on the ground for the badger. In the little time he’d been there he’d acquired nothing short of a fortune in spell casting materials, along with some unusual and intriguing finds. He was enjoying himself. It had been a long while since he’d made full use of his cunning, and there was nothing to be held back here. The more places he visited in the tiny world, the more he remembered his former self, and with each encounter he felt closer to how he had been. It was like slipping into an old sweater to find that it just as pleasantly comfortable as before. He’d missed it, even.

He watched the badger scamper away with a sense of satisfaction.

 

 

“Fucking great,” Tony said, downing his glass. “Fucking great.”

“It was the most reasonable solution,” Thor said.

“So what happens when I come back?” Tony asked. His ordinarily warm brown eyes had become unfocused and adamant. “Am I going to have SHIELD down my throat? What about my share in the company? How’d you explain that?”

Thor took in a steady breath. He considered resting his hand on Tony’s shoulder reassuringly but then thought better of it. “You placed Pepper in control and no one has questioned her judgment about your being on a board of trustees. It is…” Thor tried to recall what it had been discussed as in the meeting, months before. “Ceremonial? Sentimental?”

“Pointless,” Tony suggested, crossing his arms.

“We will not alert SHIELD of any returns,” Thor said. “We concealed Loki for months, I hardly think you would pose a challenge.” He meant it reassuringly, but Tony heard otherwise.

“And what if you need me?” Tony asked.

“Fury will forgive and be grateful for your aid,” Thor said.

Tony’s head had become foggy enough that he knew he should not stand up from the table, no matter how much he wanted to leave. This shouldn’t have been surprising him. Rationally, logically, he knew that. But emotionally was something else all together. “I don’t deserve another reputation. I’m not a bad person,” Tony said, stumbling just perceptibly over the last word.

“No one said anything about that,” Thor said.

He regretted telling Tony. He’d done it because he knew that Tony would find out eventually anyway, on a return visit, and Steve said he should probably say something about it. They had all known that Tony wouldn’t take it well. But they all also knew that there was a chance that Tony wouldn’t come back.

It had been a difficult decision to make, but Fury had forced their hand. They couldn’t declare Tony just missing. So they’d delicately told Fury that they’d dismissed Tony from the Avengers. That he’d allied with Loki to acquire Asgardian technology and they couldn’t account for his actions after that. That he was on Asgardian terms now, and that they just considered Tony beyond their jurisdiction.

There had been a lot of questions, and few satisfactory answers. Mainly they’d resulted to playing up Tony’s instability and Asgard taking responsibility for him. They implied that he was in custody, and that it would be politically volatile to ask.

In essence, they had washed their hands clean of him.

There may have been a few asides between Steve and Fury, but if there were, Thor didn’t know about them. He only knew the official story that they’d decided on and that Fury laid off after a couple of weeks. That more than anything the director seemed disappointed, and left it at that.

“What are you doing now, Tony?” Thor asked, trying to steer Tony elsewhere.

“Like, what?” Tony asked. “Sitting at a table? Grappling with Iron Man’s ousting?”

“The public is not aware,” Thor said. Officially, Tony Stark was in retirement in the public eye. Not missing or rogue. “I mean to say, do you have a lab again or?”

“Oh,” Tony said. “Yeah. Sort of.” He frowned. He knew it was unfair to ask, but he wanted things to stay the same for him while he was gone. No matter how long it was. He knew that his friends couldn’t dodge Fury’s inquiries forever, that eventually they’d have to come up with some sort of story. He knew he shouldn’t be upset about Iron Man’s fall from grace, but damn he was. There was a lot of his identity in that suit, and it cut him to think that his homeland had just tossed it away.

Thor was reliving the conversation he’d had with Steve before he’d left. This trip had been about introducing Tony to their parents, but it had also been about checking in on him. They all wanted to know that he was alright. In truth, they’d all had a lot to ask Tony about, and they probably would’ve come along if they could have. Thor wondered how Tony was really doing. He saw a lot of Loki’s mannerisms in Tony now.

“I mean, what are your goals now?” He asked, sounding a bit like Steve.

That snapped Tony out of his own thoughts. He thought of saying something crude before remembering that it was Thor sitting next to him, all sympathy. “I’m putting together an archive,” Tony said.

He picked up his glass, turning it and then setting it down again. “I’m recording everywhere we go and whatever technology of note is in that location. Anything that could prove useful to advancing my own technology. I’m also collecting a history of the places that we visit, and mapping them out. It may be useful in the future.” Tony scratched his fingers through his hair. “But the information will have to be applied…correctly. I don’t want my company to make the same mistakes and I don’t want SHIELD or any other agency using it. I don’t know who to entrust it to on earth, or if I should. So for right now it’s a record. That’s all.”

“I---“ Thor smiled a little. “Know someone that would be right for that.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked.

“You have not spent enough time with Jane,” Thor said.

 

 

When Loki had more than he could carry and the fun had worn out, he decided to leave the little underworld. It had been an easy affair, and he had no blood on his hands (okay, well, a little, but what did it matter).  He had done all that he could, and with little left to entertain him, he decided to be on his way again.

“You are a poor excuse for a gatekeeper,” Loki said to the griffin as he exited.

If the creature could show scorn on its avian features it certainly was now. “You’re a poor excuse for a god,” it retorted.

“Enjoy undoing your stupidity,” Loki said, taking his leave. The griffin turned away, looking back inside the gates. Before it, in the barren landscape, it sensed chaos and hope, a lethal combination in such a place.

“You made a mistake,” the bull-like creature said.

“That’s not your place to decide,” the griffin snarled, knowing its companion was right.

 

 

 

Tony laid down in his bed that night and fell asleep quickly. It wasn’t until the early morning hours that the alcohol he’d downed kicked back and woke him up. Once that happened his thoughts caught up with him and he was awake.

At first he paced the room, feeling a little regret over how he’d acted with Thor. He knew that Thor was just the messenger anyway. He knew that this was all Tony Stark drama, and not anyone’s fault. He couldn’t expect life to wait for him.

It felt strange to be in Loki’s childhood home without him. Everywhere they went Tony wondered what story was missing. No one had been entirely forthcoming either. They excitedly asked about him, not Loki. Maybe it was a painful subject for them.

He paced the room for a while before he found himself wandering out towards the hallway. It was empty outside. There were no guards in the long, dark hall, lit only by a far off moon. Sluggishly, Tony made his way to the black door from earlier that day.

The room was not any less sterile than it had been before, and Tony did not feel any less like a ghost passing through. Still, the room offered something, even if it was the echo of a distant past. Tony looked through the shelves again, but he found nothing new. He couldn’t read the language of the books anyway. Tired, he made his way over to a couch and sank down into it, staring out the long, arching windows at a distant moon beyond.

In the morning he found himself there, and slipped out back to his room before anyone had noticed.

 

 

Things improved as the week progressed. Tony got used to Thor again, and realized just how much he had missed his friend. There were banquets and Tony grew more and more comfortable, falling back into being the center of attention easily. He was a shiny new toy and could do no wrong. He’d forgotten how easily other people were impressed. Loki didn’t astonish or admire easily.

So, when the week came to a conclusion and Thor apologetically informed Tony that he would miss him greatly, Tony was disappointed to be going home.

There were promises of future visits and parting gifts, and Tony noticed, enough of most everything for two people. A few of the things given, he distinctly knew, were not really intended for him.

He was in a good mood when he was sent back across the bifrost, this time to the place where he’d been living.

 

 

He heard Andor’s hooves clopping animatedly across the floors towards him. There was just enough time to set everything down on the table before he felt the little monster at his feet, rubbing against his ankles and growling.

The growling made him uncomfortable, although he’d gotten accustomed to it.

Tony walked the length of the rather small living quarters but found no sign of Loki. After finding spoiled food he decided that Loki had left on his own vacation. That worried Tony slightly, but he brushed it off. He was exhausted. He’d sleep for the night. He could use the bracelet to check in on Loki in the morning.

Just as he drifted off to sleep he heard something small and vicious at the foot of the bed. He tried not to move, hoping that Andor would go elsewhere. Then he felt the sheets move. Using its teeth, it worked its way up the bed and then charged for Tony’s neck, drawing a small yelp of terror as the little ram curled up into the space between his neck and shoulder. It fell asleep quickly with a sinister snore. Tony took much longer to fall asleep.

 

 

When he awoke the creature was gone. Tony let out a sigh of relief. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and stiffly threw his legs over the side of the bed. Then he shuffled towards the kitchen.

“Good morning,” a familiar voice said. Surprised, Tony jumped a little. He turned to see Loki sitting in an armchair, Andor in one hand. The ram’s eyes were watching him as the god’s hand stroked its little back. Tony looked from the ram to Loki’s face.

“Aw shit,” Tony said under his breath. He knew that look. He hadn’t seen it in months, but he knew that look.

“Tony,” Loki said, setting the ram down onto the floor. “Did you miss me?”

“Immensely,” Tony said, turning back to his walk towards the kitchen. “Though I also missed my coffee, and unless you two wanna fight over me, maybe you should give me some time to wake up.” He felt Loki follow behind him into the kitchen.

Then Loki was standing in front of him. “Sit down,” he said, summoning a filled mug from mid-air. It materialized in pieces, warping like streamers before settling into something solid. He placed it in Tony’s hand. Tony had seen him summon things enough times before to know that he was showing off. Immensely.

He sat down at the table, taking a drink and closing his eyes as he did. He heard Loki sit across from him. Tony glanced down at the table to see the things that he’d left there the night before had been rifled through and then stacked neatly into the corner.

“Alright,” Tony said, setting the mug down. “Who pissed in your cheerios?”

Loki’s eyes flared in a way that betrayed his confusion. “Cheeri---“

“Come on,” Tony said, “tell me what happened. You’ve got it written all over you, and I’m not playing that game.” He softened his tone a bit more playfully. “I told you to try and behave yourself. Did you even let Andor outside? Once?”

“You will not order me around,” Loki said, his eyes sharp and posture tense.

“Oh, I’m ordering you around?” Tony asked, taking a noisy sip from his coffee. He returned a stubborn stare. “Fine,” Tony said, standing up. “Have your temper tantrum, your majesty,” he said, with a flippant bow of his hands. “Just don’t ask me to stick around for it.”

“I could have you beheaded for such an offense on Asgard,” Loki said darkly.

“Yeah,” Tony said, pretending to consider it. “That’s not the impression I got when I was there.” Loki swept up and around him, flaunting his towering height.

“And what impression did you get while you were there?” Loki asked, dropping his voice maliciously.

“Well,” Tony said, pressing his lips together in a tight, unpleasant line. “Maybe I would’ve told you if you had hadn’t tail spun into this mode of yours. So,” Tony said, leaning in with just as much ferocity, “either you come off it and talk to me or you keep up this bullshit. Your choice.”

Loki glanced down snidely at Tony’s shoulder, considering his next move.

“I did miss you,” Tony said, “but not this.”

“I have been far too good with you,” Loki said, brushing his hand alongside Tony’s face. Tony batted it away. “It’s made me weak.”

“The only thing that’s weak is that you won’t step up to it,” Tony said. “You’ve been…” Tony squinted, considering. “Fucking stellar the last couple of months. Don’t go back to this. Are you upset about me going to Asgard, or did something else happen?” Tony rubbed the side of his face where Loki’s hand had touched, frustrated. “Am I gonna have to guess?”

He saw Loki’s jaw tighten, knew from the feverish gears turning in his mind that it had been a long shot anyway. When Loki got insecure he got condescending and controlling, and by Tony’s assessment he was already at critical mass.  Tony needed to know what he’d been up to, what was playing out inside his head. He wouldn’t find out like this. Irritably, Tony thought that he had enough in his own head to contend with already.

“Fine,” Tony said. “We’ll continue this conversation when you get over yourself.”

“That carries such weight coming from you,” Loki said. “I should truly look to your humility for example.”

Tony scowled at him, and then began walking towards the door.

“Don’t walk away from me,” Loki said in a low, warning snarl. Tony looked back over his shoulder, all fire and brimstone. Loki glowered at him, as if by sheer willpower he could make Tony Stark turn around. Instead Tony reached for the door handle.

“When you get over yourself,” he said, and let the door slam behind him. 


	5. Making Up Is...

It began with the toasted, rich scent of brewing coffee curling in under the door, followed promptly by that of an abundantly sweet pastry that sent his heart spinning with a thousand gentle whispers of home. 

He rolled over. Tony had spent the better part of the last few days stewing, though nowhere near the extent that Loki had. There had been some botched attempts at patching things up along the way. They’d all ended loudly, typically with a door slamming shut. 

Tony buried his face into the pillow, blocking out the smell. He felt vengeful for the wake of homesickness that the scents triggered. 

He could hear cups being banged around in the kitchen. Cabinets opening and closing with too much force to be an accident. Chairs moving. 

He kept his face buried in the pillow until he fell asleep again. 

 

Tony knew that it was mid-afternoon when he woke again. At first he thought he’d woken up on his own, but then he heard a slow, dragging scratch at the door. He sighed loudly. 

A low, whining growl came next. Tony rolled onto his side. There was a soft scuffle and then the sound of Andor’s hooves against the floor vanished for a heartbeat before he was back at the door, and Tony assumed, being prodded. The scratching recommenced. 

The door rattled as his pillow made contact, slamming satisfactorily before slumping to the floor. 

Tiny clopping sounds shot off into the distance, stampeding away. Tony swore he could, just barely, make out a frustrated hiss of a sigh at the door. He grinned. 

He found his face sore at the unfamiliar movement. 

 

Of course, Tony couldn’t stay in the bedroom all day. He approached the door carefully, balancing between the urges to argue or avoid the whole thing. It creaked loudly as he pushed it open. 

The living room was empty. He let out a sigh of relief. 

Tony strode over to where his tools and books were kept, taking a weary side-glance into the kitchen. It appeared to be empty. Sitting down, he began sorting through his things, searching for something to get lost in. He took everything out of boxes and off shelves needlessly, using it to take up more and more of the space in the living room. 

When Loki walked in a few hours later Tony heard a distinct sigh. Wordlessly, he navigated the disarray, waiting until he got to the end of the room to kick a ratchet out of the way. He relished the sound of it smacking into the wall. 

Tony pretended to be too noble to notice. 

 

Loki had closed himself into the bedroom hours ago. Night had descended, and Tony reflected, they were going into the fourth day of their standoff. Still sitting on the floor, he fussed with a device, pointlessly taking it apart just for the satisfaction of reassembling it. 

He wondered if Loki had fallen asleep, or if he was staring up at the ceiling. No, he didn’t wonder that. He didn’t care. He didn’t. 

He was in the right here. He had done nothing to provoke Loki, and the god needed to get over himself and speak to Tony like a grown adult instead of a thousand year old god-child. 

The device in his hands slipped, and in the pressure, sliced shallowly into Tony’s hand. He swore, standing up. He walked into the kitchen.

Standing at the sink, running water over the superficial cut, he wondered vaguely if he should be concerned. Sometimes it occurred to him that in their travels he was being exposed to all varieties of disease and infection and who knew what else. 

Old age probably wouldn’t be what got to him. There was a time in his life when he thought that it would be himself that was his downfall. Now he was certain that it would be something much more mundane. Like a cut. Subconsciously he glanced over towards the bedroom door. 

He’d let the water run needlessly. Shutting it off, he picked up a kitchen towel, patting his hand. He couldn’t even see where he had nicked himself anymore. He’d be fine. Tony turned around, leaning back against the counter. He stared at his hand. If they’d been on better terms, Loki would’ve examined it in a moment when he didn’t think that Tony was paying attention. 

He was always doing that. Lingering over a bruise or cut, looking just a bit too closely. Paranoia was what Tony dismissed it as. He could feel Loki’s magic at work on him occasionally, and subtly. In an innocuous touch or fleeting brush, as though Tony didn’t know any better. As if he couldn’t _feel_ it. 

And it always burned warmly into those subtle cuts and bruises, brushing them away. 

It was paranoia, Tony told himself. He’d be fine. Always. Of course. He’d made it through everything that life had thrown at him. 

Tony settled back onto the floor in the living room, disassembling more things. Things they’d picked up on their travels, things that had been brought to him, given to him. 

 

A few hours later, as he pried open a watch backing, he felt something soft bump into his back. 

“Hello, you little monster,” Tony mumbled, not turning around. The ram brushed along his leg, pushing past his arm and into his lap. Tony’s body went rigid, as it always did when the creature was around. “Did someone send you or do you just want something?” 

Andor said nothing and Tony went back to the watch, doing his best to ignore the creature. It was exceptionally difficult. Not only because it was sitting on him, but because his arm brushed against its helmet as he worked. “You know,” Tony said, mostly to himself, “I didn’t vote on you as team mascot.” 

Andor seemed to project that it made zero difference to him. 

“And,” Tony said, “you’re bad for our image. Maybe we could bulk you up with some robotic limbs or something.” 

He popped a few gears loose, letting them roll onto the floor. When he picked them up again they set back into the design effortlessly. “Though I suppose a certain someone wouldn’t take that well.” 

He grinned wryly to himself. “Add it to the laundry list of offenses, I guess.” Tony snapped the watch backing shut. It wouldn’t work. He hadn’t paid it the delicate attention it needed to function properly. Tony tossed the dead watch on the floor, making a mental note to fidget with it later. 

Gingerly, he picked up the ram with distant fingers, extracting it from its bed on his leg. At the first growl Tony dropped it, holding his breath. It crawled right back up onto his leg. “Fine,” Tony muttered, leaning his weight back onto his arms behind him. 

“Say,” Tony said, “you can’t tell me what he was up to while I was gone, can you? No?” Tony closed his eyes. “It’s alright. I can guess.” 

“Though,” Tony said, glancing back down at the ram, “it would be nice to know.” 

Delicately, he eased himself to lying flat on the floor. In the shift Andor turned around, and spotting the expanse of his chest, helped itself to the spot at his arc reactor. Tony’s heart rate leapt forward until he stilled, watching the ram sleep. “A cat would’ve been easier,” Tony said. “Cats are good. Independent. Smart.”

“I’m not sure what you are,” he said, slowly lifting his finger up to touch its helmet. He was like a school kid crossing a line. When he made contact Andor did not stir and his daring subsided. “This is not exactly how I envisioned things,” Tony said. 

“Certainly not you-know-who taking a shine to you,” Tony told the sleeping creature. “Or me, for that matter.” 

“Why do you think that is?” He flexed his back. The rigid floor was uncomfortable. “You know what the weirdest thing is?” Tony asked softly to no one, his voice a rugged whisper, “that there’s a void there left by him and it’s not just that no one there will talk about him but that he won’t talk to me. It’s like he wasn’t there and he’s not here either. But I can see him.”

Tony glanced down his chest at the quiet fluff of white and gold. “Yeah,” Tony said. “I’ve got the early morning talking crazy thing going on. I’ll shut up now.” His eyes wandered back up towards the dull ceiling, the artificial light coming down. 

 

A doorway away prying ears popped softly as their bearer swallowed. His expression was indeterminable in the dark bedroom. 

 

Tony eventually fell asleep on the carpet. He began to wake a few hours later, sore and with a headache, but comforted by the scent of brewing coffee and Andor’s gentle snoring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (・_・ ) ... I never intended for that little ram to get as much attention as he is


	6. If You Meet Me Halfway

“Alright,” Tony said. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was tired as hell or if it was because he felt mildly sorry for the baggy-eyed god in front of him. He took a slow sip of coffee as his eyes traced their way across dark, languid under eye circles. 

Once he’d awoken (or rather, once Andor had awoken, for it was quite impossible for Tony to move with the little creature sleeping on his chest) he found himself sore and exhausted. The floor had been a poor choice for sleeping on, and with his erratic patches of sleep over the past few days, he’d made the perfect recipe for feeling miserable. 

Yet, at the same time, his fatigue had made him a tad more compliant. 

As he’d laid on the floor, waiting for Andor to wake, he’d listened to Loki moving around in the kitchen, pouring coffee and moving plates. It’d been comforting, in a familiar sort of way. To know that he was in there, to hear silverware and utensils clattering under his touch. 

There was no mistaking that Tony was still stubborn and miffed. Though, he mused as he laid on the stiff carpet, there was probably some amazing makeup sex waiting for him on the other side of this argument. 

When he’d at last wandered into the kitchen Loki had said nothing. But as Tony sat down at the table, he silently set a cup of coffee in front of Tony. 

Turning away from him, Loki had gone back over to the sink to shuffle dishes around. Tony watched him, leisurely drinking his coffee, spitefully amused. Was Loki aware of how obvious it was that he was just hanging around? There was nothing for him to be doing at the sink, except to noisily restack the same plates and cups again and again until Tony lost interest in counting. 

Loki avoided eye contact again as he walked past Tony and over to the cupboard. He began rearranging their meager assortment of food boxes and tins. 

It was a while longer before Tony’s pity took over, breaking the silence. 

“Alright,” Tony said. 

Loki’s head lifted up from bent shoulders, catching shafts of light in inky splotches. With stiff shoulders he righted himself, before turning towards Tony with an expressionless mask. 

Tony nodded his head towards the chair in front of him. He took another sip of coffee as Loki’s eyes wandered from him to the chair and back again. 

Neither took his sitting down as a victory. 

“You first,” Tony said. His voice was short and clipped. Loki wetted his bottom lip, saying nothing. “You,” Tony said accusatorily, “started this thing so you can be the first one to fix it.” 

“I started it?” Loki asked, his eyes constricting into unkind slits. 

“Yes,” Tony said before Loki could contest the blame further. “Now get back to fixing it.” 

Loki’s head turned coldly away from him, casting his attention on the corner of the room. His eyes landed on the small assortment of gifts Tony had brought back with him from Asgard. They rekindled a hot coal inside him. 

“I see you did well for yourself in Asgard,” he said darkly, letting the name of his former homeland hiss from his tongue. 

Tony sighed audibly. “One, you know that Thor and I are friends and two, you could’ve come if you wanted but you didn’t so thanks for leaving me on my own and then getting pissy about it.” Tony watched Loki’s fingers drum irritably against the table. He could feel his chest constricting. “And for the record, everyone there treated me a hell of a lot better than you have this week,” he said, his voice rising. 

Loki glanced back over at him snidely but said nothing. 

“You don’t get to tell me where I can and can’t go, and if that is what this is about---” said Tony, the words leaping from him with frantic accusation.

“It is not,” Loki said. In the beat that the statement knocked Tony back in, Loki snagged the momentum. “This is not about _you_ ,” Loki said, leaning forward across the table and tilting his head, snake-like, toward Tony. “Asgard is perfectly content abducting whomever it pleases, _you_ are hardly an exception.” 

Loki sat back into his chair resolutely. 

Tony took a breath, blinking hard. Old files flickered through his mind, pieces of Loki’s past that had never been spoken of between them. It didn’t exactly occur to Tony that it was knowledge that he had not been given freely. At this point, there were few boundaries that they hadn’t crossed at least once, and Tony thought nothing of it. “So this is about…” Tony frowned, thinking. “Your adoption?” 

The words did not sound delicate coming from Tony’s mouth, but there was no one from whom the words would’ve been gentle enough for Loki. There was a sharp suck of breath and tense coiling of muscles across from Tony. “No,” Loki sneered. “It has nothing to do with Asgard, nor anything but your ungracious insolence,” Loki snapped, starting to stand up from the table. 

“You get out of that chair and we go right back to where we’ve been,” Tony warned. 

Loki wavered for a moment, his tense hand hovering just over the back of the chair. There was a calm that passed over him before he sat back down, a calm that should’ve warned Tony. The man was too busy thinking of what to say next to notice.

Assuming that it was about Asgard, Tony decided to push brazenly past Loki’s defenses and go right for the throat of the matter. “You can be as upset as you want about your family, God knows that I had issues with my old man, but don’t take it out on me. Okay? I don’t care that you’re adopted, I don’t care that you’re not some king of Asgard. I just care that you’re you and that you’re with me. Alright? So you can knock it off.” 

The sincerity in Tony’s eyes was adamant, but Loki wasn’t looking at them.

Very slowly he lifted his head, glaring snidely down his nose at Tony as his voice came out in a constrained, condescending pronouncement. “Oh?” Loki asked. “You don’t care? You care nothing for the atrocities of Asgard carried out against me? So long as I fulfill your petty wants?’ 

“That was not the point I was trying to make---“

“Or is it that you wish to show how caring and accommodating you are?” Loki sat back primly, his voice robust with self-assured confidence now. His eyes gleamed sharply, honing in on the man caught up in their circlets of blazing green. “To say that you care nothing for my adoption? It means nothing to you that I’m the monster that parents tell their children of in the night?” His chair fell back as Loki leaned across the table, curling his finger under Tony’s stubble flecked jaw. “Because I _am_ the monster that parents tell their children of in the night.” 

Tony’s head was spinning. The only words he could recall were _fuck_ and _sweet Jesus_. This was not what he had intended, not at all. 

“If you think,” Loki said, his voice a deep, hostile promise, “that you shall proclaim me a frost giant to ingratiate your ego with what a compassionate individual you are, as though I am some charity to be made of your benevolence---“ He swallowed hard, his eyes locked with Tony, his mind lost to fury, “or to make a fetish of my other form---“ His breaths were coming in hard, shallow huffs, “then I shall send you to deepest depths of hell as evidence of my own charity.” 

Loki released Tony, his fingers retracting back into a tight fist. He was visibly shaking, though he tried ruthlessly to contain it. He was still shaking as he took a few steps back from the table and then walked swiftly to the bedroom, ignoring Tony’s calls from behind him and slamming the door. 

Tony’s heart thundered in his eardrums. He too was shaking as he stood from the table, reeling from the direction that had spun in. It was a soft spot he’d never intended to touch.

The bedroom door handle was stiff and motionless and Tony tried in vain to open it. “Loki,” he said, “I didn’t say any of that. If that's what you think it's not true! Hey, would you listen?” He rattled the handle again. “God damn it.” 

Tony walked away from the door quickly, heading straight to the shelves in the living room. A cardboard box rattled as he pulled it down swiftly, larger items dropping from it onto the floor. With a loud, rattling thud he set it on the ground and plunged his arm in through the assortment of nonsense spell materials, items clattering against each other as he searched for one thing. With disdain he realized that the box was much, much fuller than before. 

The pieces began coming together as he dug deeper into the box. If only he’d nosed through it sooner. 

He never went through Loki’s spell casting materials because they didn’t intrigue him. Trying to push the regret aside, Tony found the item he was looking for, and making contact with it, headed straight back to the bedroom door. 

He stood just outside the door, his forehead mere centimeters away as he clutched the item in his hand. He tried focusing through the emotional chaos. “Hey,” Tony said quietly, finding the thought he wanted. “I know this is sort of cheating,” he admitted. He could feel his voice echoing off the door, back towards him. “But I don’t think I’m gonna get through to you otherwise.” 

Tony quieted himself, gripping the egg in his hand tightly. “Listen. I don’t know what you got up to last week, and if your box of goodies is any indication it’s probably not good, but---“ Tony took in a deep breath. “I know you’re in pain right now and I don’t want you to think that I think you’re a charity case or something,” Tony finished with a mumble, dropping his head against the door. He thought of all the things he liked about Loki, hoping that they were resonating clearly through the egg. He closed his eyes. “But last week wasn’t exactly easy for me either, okay? A lot of shit went on and I can’t deal with it _and_ you, especially if I have no fucking clue why you’re acting out. I mean,” Tony sighed, dropping his head back and staring at the ceiling imploringly. “You can’t always expect me to get through to you. I can’t read your mind. Sometimes you need to come to me with shit instead of expecting me to figure it out on my own.” 

The room was quiet. 

Tony heard the door handle click, and then it swung back forcefully. Loki pried the egg out from Tony’s surprised fingers and tossed it out across the room, but not before Tony felt a flood of the god’s own contorted emotions. “That’s manipulative,” Loki said. 

Tony didn’t answer for a moment. He saw that Loki was remarkably calmer than before, but that he was, by no means, completely calm. “Yeah,” Tony agreed. He smiled softly. “I’m kinda stealing your thunder in that category right now.” 

Loki glared at him, uncertain whether or not Tony was playing with him or insulting him or both. 

Loki had a remarkable intensity about him. Tony had difficulty deciphering what it was exactly, except for that he was acutely aware of Loki’s proximity. He shuddered as he felt that curled finger return gently under his chin, sending a tingle down his spine. Loki wanted Tony to look at him, but the man was preoccupied. 

“Tony,” he prompted, dropping the man’s chin. Steady brown eyes finally met him. “Go,” he said calmly, unwittingly brushing up anxieties of abandonment in Tony, “and sit in the kitchen.” 

Tony’s eyes vanished behind heavy lids for a moment. “Because?” 

“I should like to try this again,” Loki said, gently grabbing his shoulders and turning him around. Tony grinned softly, hesitantly, before walking back into the kitchen. 

He’d already sat down by the time that Loki entered the room, Andor at his heels. Pulling out a chair, Loki sat down. He did look horrifically exhausted, Tony thought. He could not recall the last time he’d seen such dark circles beneath the god’s eyes. Loki’s attention was turned to the floor, where Andor circled his ankles, eager to be picked up. 

Leaning down, he swept up the ram in his open hand, dropping it onto his leg where it closed its eyes comfortably. Stroking its coat, he returned his focus to Tony. 

“Okay,” Tony said. “Let’s start with where you were last week.” 

Loki curled his fingers in the ram’s white fluff, making it turn its head uncertainly. “An insignificant realm,” he answered. 

Tony took in a slow breath. He dragged the handle of his cold coffee mug across the table, glancing down at the unappealing drink inside. “What happened there?” Tony asked. 

“Acquiring of goods,” Loki said. 

“I take it that there was a high price on them,” Tony said, pulling his mug around in a loop, dragging it noisily around the table. Loki stroked Andor’s coat a few times before answering. 

“Not particularly.” 

Tony muttered a disagreeable moan. “Nothing my cunning could not get,” Loki amended. 

“Do you think maybe that cunning had a little to do with anything else,” Tony ventured, not looking up from his mug. 

Loki took a while to answer. He too was noticing how exhausted Tony looked now, the delay in his ordinarily instant delivery. “Perhaps,” Loki said reluctantly, “I needed a diversion from my thoughts on Asgard.” 

“It wasn’t a good diversion,” Tony said. 

“I know that,” Loki snapped. 

Tony glanced up at him reproachfully before returning his attention back to his cold coffee. Tapping the side of the mug he asked, “Was it because I went there or Thor or just Asgard in general?” 

Loki glanced up and around the kitchen, his lips twisted into an uncomfortable frown. Tony was content to wait. A steadiness had settled into Loki's eyes when he finally answered. “All,” he said. 

“Okay,” Tony said. “Okay.”

It was a while before Loki replied. “And in your travels you had troubles,” he asked in a defensive statement. Tony grimaced, stretching his face a little before answering. 

“I’m out of the Avengers,” he said. 

Loki’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He waited for Tony to elaborate, trying to judge just how much of an impact that had made on the man. 

“They declared me awol to cover their ass with Shield. I’m your coconspirator now, it seems.” Tony grabbed the bridge of his nose, pulling in an unstable breath. “I guess it’s not that far from the truth.” 

Loki’s head dropped minutely to the side, a sympathetic half smile whispering across his lips. Tony’s eyes were fixated on his mug. Loki glanced down at the table. “Then your return is?” 

“Possible,” Tony said. “But that’s not the part I’m upset about.” He took in a deep breath, shaking his head. “I don’t blame them but it pisses me off.” 

Loki glanced down at Andor. He would be, he realized, a bit disappointed not to see them again. At the very least, he enjoyed toying with Barton and trading quips with Natasha. 

“Whatever,” Tony said dismissively. “Fucking whatever.” 

“New year there is fast approaching,” Loki stated listlessly. Tony glanced up at him instantly. 

“Already?” He glanced around the apartment. “I---shit, I don’t know if I can go back right now. I think I’ve had my fill of melodrama for the week.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Are you accusing me of melodrama?” 

Tony glanced up at him, a cocky half smile on his lips. “Point and case,” he said. Then grinning he said, “and don’t try to tell me that it wasn’t. We could’ve had this talk four days ago.” 

Loki rolled his eyes by way of reply. 

They sat in silence a while before Tony asked, “how long until New Year?” 

“A few weeks,” Loki said. 

“I can handle it by then,” Tony said. 

He glanced over at Loki, trying to gauge where they now stood. The god’s green eyes were fixed on the ram in his lap. His dark hair had fallen over his shoulders and moved gently in the minute sway of his arm as his fingers tangled through the ram’s coat. Tony combed his fingers back through his richly colored hair before absently tapping at his arc reactor. He twisted his lips in debate. 

“I don’t know about you,” Tony said, “but I’ve had enough of this place.” 

Loki glanced up at him with an agreeable, sly half-smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, deep breaths, is everyone okay  
> happier things are on the horizon


	7. That One Time With The Rain

“It’s raining,” Loki said.

Tony set down the tablet in his hands to look up at Loki. The god was pointing out the window with his index finger, oddly attuned to the falling drizzle outside. Tony smiled softly to himself, finding it a bit childish, but also confused as to what the point was. “Yeah,” Tony agreed, returning his gaze to the file he was editing. 

Loki turned to glance back over his shoulder. Tony wasn’t paying attention in the way that he wanted. His cat-like eyes turned back to the window. A soft patter played against the old glass panes, obscuring the view of the woodlands beyond. 

His hair had waved with the humidity, creating careless curls across his shoulders. He sighed loudly, then glanced back. Tony was ignoring him. 

The man was wearing glasses today. They were particularly flattering. 

His fingers flexed across the screen, and he was paying little attention to anything else. Expressions would whisper across his face, from little grins of amusement to narrowed eyes with intent. He was wearing a soft sweater that made him appear peculiarly academic. 

Loki’s attire was not dissimilar today, though it had a tad bit more flare. 

Loki turned his attention back to the window. Tony sat on the floor a few feet from him, occasionally picking up one of the items he’d placed around him to examine. Loki found Tony’s projects mildly interesting, and didn’t have any particular feelings about the engineer’s growing collection of records on places they’d been. Tony needed something mentally engaging or he’d go insane. 

Tony watched as Loki walked away from the window, narrowly stepping over one of Tony’s open books and going into the kitchen. Tony paused. His shoulders tensed as he glanced back over his shoulder. Frowning, he decided it was nothing, and scratched absently at his goatee before returning his attention to the tablet. 

Loki’s emotional temper tantrum had subsided for the most part since they’d left their last living space behind. This new place was quite castle-like, in the middle of an overgrown forest. Tony had the distinct feeling that whoever owned the space was merely on vacation, but he saw no point in objecting to Loki’s disregard for the homeowner’s wishes. It was somewhat chilly in this climate, and the walls were made of stone. Though, he had no complaints about sitting before the fireplace together at night and the necessity of being closer. 

He heard the backdoor swing open. 

“Loki,” Tony called out. There was no reply. He stood up from the floor, taking a moment to brush off his trousers. 

“I was just about to go find you,” Tony said. Loki had returned in the backdoor at the same time Tony had reached his hand out to open it. Little droplets of rain clung to his hair as light green eyes turned on Tony, his lips an expressionless line. “What are you doing?” Tony asked gently, warmth curling through his half smile. 

Loki tilted his head to the side, explaining in overdone casualness. “It is raining and I detest doing nothing.” He pushed past Tony and into the room. 

Tony watched him walk back towards the kitchen. “Do you want to go outside?” He tried. Loki’s voice replied from the kitchen. 

“Perhaps.” 

Tony leaned against the open door frame, crossing his arms. He shivered as the cold air brushed past him. His sleeve was catching some of the misty drizzle, but it was not raining too terribly. He glanced across the wet lawn and the foggy forest beyond. “Are you sure?” He called back. 

Loki reappeared at his side. There was a playful, curious smirk that he was trying to conceal in the corner of his mouth. “Surely you are not intimidated by water?” 

Tony glanced over at him, considering. “This is more of a swimming pool than a backyard right now,” he said. “I can literally drink the air in.” 

“Figuratively,” Loki corrected him. 

“Practically,” Tony said. 

Loki’s warm hand leisurely wandered down Tony’s arm, softly across the light blue sweater. He glanced down at Tony’s glasses, flecked with droplets of water. “Let’s go for a walk, Stark.” 

Tony’s heavy sigh greeted him. Tony was curious about where they were headed, but he had been quite comfortable in the cozy living room, and he wasn’t entirely confident about wandering out into the muddy backyard. He felt Loki’s hand slip under his jaw, tilting his head up. He stared into those questioning brown eyes, promising with his own. “You’ll catch a cold,” Tony said. 

“ _You’ll_ catch a cold,” Loki said with a grin, “I won’t.” He brushed Tony’s hair back, dropping his fingers down and cupping Tony’s head in his hands right behind his ears. “Which, you know I will remedy.” 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said, dropping his arms down around the god’s waist. “Wouldn’t you rather play inside instead?” 

“No,” Loki said. He reached behind and grabbed Tony’s cold hands from around his back. He stepped out the door, keeping those cold hands in his, walking backwards into the yard. Tony followed, somewhat stubbornly, though a grin was beginning to crack through his hesitancy. 

“What’s gotten into you?” He asked as his feet sank down into the mud. He had little interest in the answer to the question. 

Loki said nothing, still pulling him out into the yard, Tony following gracelessly in his hands, the ground sucking each time his feet popped free of the mire and he fumbled forward. The misty rain was cold against Tony’s face, and his heart beat quicker with each step, uncertain whether Loki was in the midst of a prank or something delightfully wicked. 

When they’d gotten far from the house but still a good couple meters from the forest, Loki abruptly stopped. Tony fell into him. He heard the god’s breath catch as he righted the man, running his arms down his back before letting him go. 

Tony shivered violently. He wrapped his arms around himself, glancing over at Loki. “I’ll catch a cold,” he said. 

Loki tapped his finger playfully against Tony’s nose, delighting in the indignant scorn that brought forth. “Not until I’m finished with you.” 

“Oh?” Tony said, grinning. A violent shiver knocked the grin from his face. “How are you not freezing your ass off,” he complained. 

“Patience,” Loki explained. His hair was becoming soaked in the rainy air, slicking down in waves over his sweater. 

“I don’t know how I can have patience when---” hot lips parted his. He moaned as steamy breath curled into his mouth. The cold air was a shock when they parted a few seconds later. “Oh.” 

The smirk on Loki’s face was positively sinful. “I’m fond of those glasses,” he said, leaning down again. 

He was rougher this time, dragging Tony’s lip down in a possessive bite. “I should wear them more often,” Tony muttered. 

“Mmm,” Loki agreed. 

With his tongue down his throat it was a moment before Tony recognized those long fingers slipping down around his ears again, lifting the glasses from his face. He gasped for a breath as Loki pulled the glasses away. His eyes opened gently, eyelashes flecked with rainwater, in a way that made Loki’s eyes darken lustfully. He folded the glasses shut and slipped them into his back pocket. Tony’s face had flushed bright red and he was shaking in his drenched sweater, staring at Loki for direction. 

Leisurely, Loki kneaded his hands down into Tony’s tense shoulders, blowing warm breaths against Tony’s skin. Tony watched his breath appear in hazy clouds that vanished into the chilly air, and somewhere in his scientific mind, he recognized that there was something distinctly magical about the way the weather was behaving. Loki’s fingers pressed down between his shoulder blades, and he gasped as hot lips sucked at the chilly skin along his neck like a flame. 

He blinked, water droplets running down his face. Goosebumps covered his shuddering flesh as he leaned into the warm body against him, listening attentively to Loki’s lustful breathing, the pleased moans trailing across his trembling skin. He leaned his head back, blowing a cloud of hot breath into the air, moaning agreeably as he watched it vanish into the gray sky above. 

Warm fingers had slipped up under his wet shirt, peeling the heavy, wet fabric up, exposing his stomach. Loki pressed his hand along Tony’s abdomen, smiling up at him. “Hmm?” Tony asked quietly. Loki said nothing, content to wander his hands up along Tony’s sides, to circle his thumbs against Tony’s stiff nipples, to laugh softly as Tony gasped into him. 

Loki pulled the shivering body into him, wrapping his warm arms around Tony’s shaking body, grinning delightfully. Tony pressed his face into Loki’s chest, closing his eyes. The cold was winning out in the battle for lust. He was perfectly aware of how drenched his clothes were, of the mud leaking into his shoes. 

Loki held him closely, resting his head on Tony’s, smiling with contentment at the misty world around them. 

“Oh,” Loki said with a sultry purr, glancing down at Tony. The man blinked up at him, a playful, expectant gleam in his eyes. “What a mess you are.” He dropped his arms down around Tony’s waist, still holding onto him. “Can’t have you getting mud in the house, now can we?” 

Tony would’ve laughed if his teeth hadn’t been rattling. “Since when have you not liked messy?” He asked with a devilish grin. 

Loki pretended to consider the question, Tony still shaking against him. “Now, I suppose,” he said, and Tony’s startled laugh met him as he hoisted the man up, carrying him. 

“This is not, no, not, what the hell,” Tony began frantically arguing as Loki stepped gracefully across the yard, Tony slung across his shoulder. “First up, I’m the one that’s supposed to do this, it’s never been the other way around, and I’ve had some pretty wild nights---“ 

“Right,” Loki said with disinterest. “Because you handled walking across the yard so well the first time.” 

“Well,” Tony said, spotting his glasses in Loki’s back pocket, “Is man-handling me really necessary?” He struggled indignantly as Loki stepped up to the door of the house, wiping his feet pointedly. 

“Yes,” he said cheerfully, refusing to set Tony down as they entered the house. 

“Okay, not calling anyone a hypocrite here, but if I were, someone is definitely trailing mud into the house right now,” Tony said.

“Good thing you’re not then,” Loki said, approaching the bathroom door. He set Tony down with a proud smile, relishing the charmed but indignant fluster in Tony. 

“Well maybe I am,” Tony said. Loki ignored that, choosing instead to reach around Tony’s back to open the bathroom door. 

Steam flooded out into the hallway, spilling from a large claw foot tub that had a large, sweeping back to it. The bath had already been drawn. Condensation dripped from the obscured mirrors. 

In seconds thumbs were looping down into Tony’s waistband and pulling, impatiently freeing him from his trousers and boxers, dropping them carelessly on the floor. Greedy hands scoured the cold shirt from him. It fell to the floor with a dull, wet thud and hands were already at his chest, pushing him back into the tub. 

“How much did you plan this,” Tony gasped as he fell back into the water, slipping comfortably against the back of the tub. Loki’s hands were at his feet, ripping shoes and socks away.

“Hardly at all,” Loki replied, bearing his pale chest as he dropped his sweater on the floor. He followed Tony into the tub, grinning as the hot water took him in. His hands slid across Tony’s wet chest, eliciting a soft sigh. 

He felt the man’s arms wrap around him, pressing a pleasant kiss to his neck. Tony’s hands explored his soaked back as though it were the first time, pausing to investigate his sensitive shoulder blades, to tease contented moans from him. The hot bath was exceptionally inviting to his cold skin, and that was to say nothing of the god that had draped his arms around Tony as he straddled him in the tub, leisurely pressing his lips to hypersensitive skin. 

Tony liked Loki with wet hair. Something about it brought out the sharpness of his eyes, made him look regal, yet wild. He pushed Loki’s wet hair back over his shoulders, grinning. 

Loki set his chin against Tony’s chest and closed his eyes, allowing Tony to rub his fingers through his mop of thick hair. It occurred to him then that this could’ve happened weeks ago, right when Tony had returned, if he’d let it. He tucked his head into the crook of Tony’s neck, the man’s agreeable sigh brushing right past his ear. 

After a while they heard nothing but the occasional drip of water in the room, ringing out clearly. Their faces were flushed, their bodies too warm, though neither particularly wanted to move. Tony was disappointed when Loki finally pulled away from him, sitting back in the tub. 

Until he felt fingers along his thigh, pressing easily against the hot flesh there, and Tony cared nothing for the “please” that slipped from his lips and the demanding pleas that followed as those fingers teased him. Loki grinned, helping his lips to the man’s neck, biting down as the man bucked into his hand, shouting past his ears. Tony was shaking when he came, going limp in the tub. He felt peculiarly lewd, lying in the bathtub, sweating. 

Water sloshed around them as Loki shifted again in the tub. It felt like a while until Tony opened his eyes, his breath settling. Smiling lazily he reached out his hand, content to return the favor, and laughed as pale hands wrapped around his head, pulling Tony against his chest as he moaned loudly, thrusting into the man’s hand. It was with a throaty cry he came, and slipping his back down against the tub, sinking into the water, he wrapped his legs around Tony, holding him securely. 

“I think,” Tony mumbled into Loki’s chest, “we should go outside again.” 

Loki’s chest heaved with a spent breath. Then he opened his eyes, a friendly grin in the corner of his mouth. He slicked Tony’s wet hair back with his hand and then dropped his head back against the tub, taking in a long breath. He closed his eyes. 

Tony watched his adam’s apple bob in his throat as he breathed in again. His white teeth gleamed as he smiled, tightening his legs around Tony, holding him securely. “Perhaps,” he said. 

“Definitely,” Tony said. 

Loki opened his eyes to watch Tony then, admiring him contentedly. Tony leaned into his touch, dropping his head back down. Only much later did they leave the tub, knowing full well that it was not the last the tub would see of them.


	8. It's Not That I'm Afraid of Heights, Per Se.

“I don’t think he’ll even know how to use it,” Tony said, wrinkling his nose at an embellished wine bottle opener in Loki’s palm. 

“Nonsense,” Loki said, holding it up to the light. He grinned a little, watching the ornate gold details reflect light in the motion. “The captain’s more knowledgeable than you give him credit for.” 

“I don’t know,” Tony said. He crossed his arms, leaning back from the table. Gifts cluttered the flat surface. “I think he’d be happy with a postcard.” 

“Yes,” Loki agreed, setting the opener down. “But this is _better_.” He glanced over at Tony. The man had grown less and less interested as Loki had discussed each gift with him. 

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” Tony said. 

“Tony,” Loki said. “You’re terrible at giving gifts.” He dropped his shoulders, smiling fondly at the man. “Let me help you.” 

“They’re going to know it’s from you,” Tony said, grinning but shaking his head. “They know me.” 

Loki picked up another item, pretending to consider it. “Both of us then.” Tony was grateful that Loki was showing some enthusiasm about their approaching return trip. “I fail to see why it bothers you.” 

“It doesn’t bother me,” Tony said. “I’m just saying no one’s going to be fooled.” He leaned into his chair, contentedly watching Loki fidget with things. Loki grinned with pride, not looking up from his hands. 

“Maybe so,” he said. 

“What’re you getting Thor?” Tony said, dropping the question as casually as he could, all the while holding his breath. Loki’s hand faltered, but he answered cooly. 

“This,” he said, tapping a gold sphere on the table. It morphed into an eagle, drifting up into the air. “It’s a changing target.” He handed Tony the spoon from his tea. “Toss it,” he instructed. 

Tony rocked his wrist back and forth, clasping the spoon handle between his thumb and pointer finger, keeping his attention on the eagle. The spoon pirouetted through the air before striking the bird. With a clatter the spoon fell to the floor, but the eagle morphed into a stag and cantered off through the kitchen. “He’ll like that,” Tony said. Loki nodded knowingly. 

Loki snapped his fingers, and in the instance, the stag fell to the floor in a golden splash of liquid, before morphing back into a ball. He glanced back over at Tony. The man was staring at the table distantly, his brown eyes locked in contemplation. 

Tony was less excited about the return trip than Loki had anticipated. The god picked up a glass jar, turning it over in his hands. Inside was a healing balm for Natasha. Loki had been quick to offer Tony assistance with selecting gifts for their New Year’s return. He felt sorry for Tony’s anxiety. Not that he’d admit it. 

He twisted the jar over in his hands, clandestinely watching Tony from the corner of his eye. 

“Perhaps you will have the chance to put on the Iron Man suit,” Loki suggested. “You have not in months.” 

“And get shot down from the sky?” Tony asked. “Yeah, it doesn’t exactly scream subtle to SHIELD.” 

Loki set down the glass jar. The sound rang out loudly from the table. “You have nothing to worry about on your return. Tony, I concealed myself easily for months. What do you fear?” 

Tony rubbed his chin, not looking up from the table. “I’m not worried about getting tangled up with SHIELD. I’m worried about---“ He sighed, brushing his fingers back through his hair. “Nothing,” he said dismissively. “What’s this?” He asked, picking the jar up from the table. 

Loki’s spine straightened. His lips twitched in thought, calculating how to best play the situation out. “Put the jar down, Tony.” 

“No,” Tony said, keeping his attention on the jar. 

He relaxed as Loki’s hands wrapped around his own, fingers sliding comfortably between his, smoothly slipping the jar out. Loki placed it back on the table. “Tony,” he said, “once you have returned you will settle in.” He brushed a long, pale finger across his chin, “or you can not go.” His green eyes glanced down at Tony. “Though I do not think that is what you desire.” 

“I wanna go,” Tony said. He rubbed the side of his face. “I just don’t want to go.” 

“That makes perfect sense,” Loki said teasingly. 

“You know what I mean,” Tony said. 

“Well,” Loki said. “You have yet another week to think about it.” 

Those words did nothing to brighten Tony’s mood. 

Loki walked away from the table, considering. He stopped in front of the window, staring out onto the courtyard below. They’d taken up residence in a tower, overlooking a stony field. There wouldn’t be much longer before the owners of this location came home to find their food stores depleted and beds unmade. At least they wouldn’t have to clean mud out of the carpet like the last place. 

If he allowed Tony to carry on pouting and worrying, the man would be a self-destructive mess by the evening. That wasn’t good for either of them. 

“Fine,” Loki said sullenly. Tony looked back over his shoulder at the sudden interjection. “I’ll do the thing with the suit that you wanted,” he said stubbornly. Tony’s face lit up. 

“With the flying,” Tony clarified. 

Loki rolled his eyes, grasping his crossed arms tighter. “That _is_ what I just offered,” he said with exasperation. “But,” he said, finally looking over at Tony, whose enthusiasm was unbearable, “there is a condition.” 

Tony lifted his eyebrows sarcastically with a challenging smirk. There was always a condition with Loki, there was no need for him to say so. 

“Stop stressing over the return trip.” 

Tony was silent for a moment before he acknowledged Loki’s condition. “Are you…being nice?” He asked, grinning. 

“It’s purely my own self-interest,” Loki said defensively. “I find your moping detestable.” It was too late. Tony was already at his side, smiling like an idiot. 

“So let me get this straight,” Tony said, pressing his hands down between Loki’s arms and chest, prying them out from the stubborn v’s they’d been tucked into, “you’ll let me do the suit thing, and all I have to do is chill out?” He grabbed onto Loki’s hands, swinging the god’s heavy, defiant arms back and forth playfully. “Seems like a good deal for me,” Tony said. 

Loki pried his hands free, recoiling them behind his back, where they would be safe from Tony. “I am very close to changing my mind Stark,” he said through gritted teeth, his head turned to the side, away from Tony. 

“Well then let me suit up,” Tony said cheerfully, soaking in one last look at Loki’s defiant figure, the fond, lenient cracking in his stubborn defenses. “Meet you outside.” 

Loki let out a very loud, very annoyed, grumbling sigh. 

\-----------

 

The faceplate was a blessing. If Loki had seen the stupid, happy grin slapped on Tony’s face he would’ve refused vehemently. As it was, Tony’s step was upbeat and almost buoyant, and that was irritating enough. 

Loki stood out in the courtyard, an obstinate pillar of black and emerald, with crossed arms and uncomfortable posture. Tony stopped several yards away from him. 

“Aren’t you going to come over here?” Loki shouted, annoyed that Tony was taking his time. 

“Oh no,” Tony called back. “We’re doing this the right way.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, jutting out his jaw ever so little. “And what is that,” he said. 

“Don’t move,” Tony said. “But put your hands down, would you?” The god shot him a particularly vile glare. It did nothing to faze Tony. He enjoyed Loki’s being uncooperative like this. It was oddly endearing. 

“Come on,” Tony cooed at him. “Arms at your sides.” 

Loki lifted one arm out showily, casting it out from him, but leaving it out parallel from him. “You can do it,” Tony’s mock-motherly voice said. Loki dropped his arm to his side haughtily. “There you go.” 

Tony jumped to the side as a green bolt rocketed past him, taking out a tree behind them. “That wasn’t very nice,” Tony said. Loki shrugged. 

“Seriously though,” Tony said. “Other arm.” 

“What,” Loki said, dropping his arm, “does this have to do with anything?” 

The sound of flares came as his answer and in the next moment he was arguing, screaming over the blare of rocket power as Tony launched at him, sweeping him up. 

Tony’s arm’s tucked up and around him, cradling him with an arm beneath his knees and around his back as they launched off into the air. “Tony,” Loki said with a note of panic, reaching his arms back around the man’s robotic neck and chest to hang on, “this is---“ 

“Fun,” Tony interrupted him. 

“Undignified,” Loki said. 

“You promised,” Tony reminded him, heading skyward. Loki’s hair was whipping all around his face in the wind, obscuring his wide green eyes from Tony’s view. 

“Just once around the tower,” Loki shouted. He had to cling onto Tony to stay stable, a fact that he did not particularly care for, but that Tony adored. 

“Uh-uh,” Tony said. “You didn’t say anything about how many times.” He dropped the thrusters out, letting them fall a few feet, just so that Loki would grasp onto his shoulders tighter. “I’ve gotcha,” Tony said. 

“That’s what concerns me,” Loki retorted dryly. 

The courtyard was disappearing beneath them as Tony set course up and over the trees, flying exuberantly. Loki stayed stubbornly in his arms, too off put by the fall below to release his grasp on Tony, but not any more receptive. Tony wasn’t just flying. He was being showy about it. 

“Okay Stark,” Loki said. “This is far enough, were I to be seen like this by any I would surely be---”

“Just fine,” Tony said. “You’re along for the ride." 

An incredulous smirk pulled up the tight corners of Loki’s mouth. He relaxed, just perceptibly, into Tony’s grip. He was just along for the ride.


	9. Take the Keys

Tap, tap, tap. 

Andor skittered away from the approaching scarlet heels, clever enough to know better than to challenge their wearer. He cantered along, a frantic flash of fluff until he smacked into Loki’s dark black boots. The god of mischief glanced up leisurely from his book. A familiar red head was entering the otherwise empty lobby of Avengers Tower, filling the open atrium with the steady tap of a walk with a destination. 

“Thought you were jet-lagged,” Natasha said, stopping a few feet from Loki, eyeing the little ram critically. 

“Tony is jet-lagged,” Loki corrected her. “Gods,” he said dryly, “do not get jet-lag.” 

“Hmm,” Natasha said with a skeptical air of neutrality. Loki set his book down beside him, sitting up straight. He’d arrived hours ago in mid-afternoon. Tony passed out after catching up with the team, claiming jet-lag, but Loki suspected that it was something a little more mentally taxing than that. Fragile, sensitive mortal that he was. 

“Where are you heading so late in the night, Agent Romanov?” Loki asked, taking pleasure in lilting his words with implications. 

Natasha crossed her arms, leaning into her hip. “I had plans to go out with Clint, but he’s bailed. I don’t see why I shouldn’t go out though,” she said. A tiny smirk tilted up into her lips. “Why? Wanna come along?” 

Loki’s thin smile held steady, his slim eyes calculating. 

“Or do gods not get having good time either?” Natasha tilted herself away slowly, pivoting towards the automatic doors with an expectant delay. From the corner of her eye she saw Loki stand from his place on a stiff lobby chair, tossing his book aside. 

“Asking my company,” he said from behind her, “daring, don’t you think?” 

“Why?” Natasha asked with boredom. “Do I intimidate you?” She turned back over her shoulder, smiling conspiratorially. “You can stay here if you feel threatened. I’d understand if you did,” she said. “It’s a sign of intellect.” 

Loki grinned, shaking his head slightly. His clothing phased into something of sleek black design, obscuring his identity but preserving his essence. “I rather think,” he said, following her through the doors and out into the chill night air, “it’s this city that should be intimidated.” 

“Calm yourself,” Natasha said, taking her keys from her pocket. “We’re not out to conquer this city.” A red sports car’s engine revved a few parking spaces away. “Tonight,” she said. 

She swung open the car door, waiting for Loki to sit in the passenger seat. The convertible top lifted back as they pulled out of the space. Natasha punched the gas as they turned into the street, expertly navigating tight corners and weaving in and out of traffic, showing off. 

Cold air combed and tugged at their hair as they flew down the road, streetlights passing them in long streaks of yellows and whites, dull stars above them. Neither spoke as they sped along, Natasha’s music blaring in a wind-obscured way. 

“Okay,” Natasha said when the car at last came to a halt. She’d pulled up in front of a dark, narrow building, crammed inconspicuously between larger, gaudier modern architecture. 

Loki grinned as he slammed his car door shut. It was the kind of place Tony would hesitate at, preferring showier places as he did. Natasha held the black door of the bar open, waiting for him to take it behind her. 

Inside the air was heavy and humid, the light dim. Only the bar was lit up, illuminated in light blue along the counter, where several suited bar tenders were at work. The room was intimate and narrow, with space for no more than the few that could take up one of the tall booths along the wall or one of the few, privileged seats along the bar. 

A man behind the counter recognized Natasha, tilting his head towards the far end. They brushed past guests as they inched along to the back, taking the last two tall, black bar stools. 

“I see you’ve upgraded,” the bartender said, setting a drink in front of Natasha. 

“Just a friend,” Natasha righted him. 

“So I don’t need to do the break up pep talk,” the bartender said, at ease. “Cool. Clint’s alright.” 

“Just alright?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow. “No it’s okay,” she said before he could quip back, “he bailed. So alright is fine.” 

The bartender turned his attention away from Natasha with a knowing, comfortable grin. “So who’s this then? Single?” The bartender’s smile was charming and playful, lithe with contrast to Loki’s condescending rebuke. 

“Taken,” Natasha said. 

“Disappointing,” the bartender said. “So, what’s your poison?” 

Natasha turned to watch Loki acutely in the bar light, shadows slipping comfortably into his angular features. With amusement, she waited for his answer, half-hoping that he would say something along the lines of arsenic. 

“Death in the Afternoon,” he said smoothly. The bartender turned from him, walking the length of the bar to fetch absinthe and champagne. “Curious how you Midgardians name your drinks,” Loki said. 

“Tony’s been teaching you,” Natasha said, taking a sip of her own cocktail. Loki nodded his head to the side in mild acknowledgement. 

The bartender returned, setting Loki’s drink down with a sly wink. 

“He’s harmless,” Natasha said, taking another sip. 

“Seldom few can contain their infatuation around me,” Loki said, picking up his drink with long, lingering fingers. Natasha rolled her eyes. 

She sat back comfortably. “Thanks for the gift, by the way,” Natasha said. 

“It was from Tony,” Loki said. 

Natasha glanced over at him. “Tony,” she said with fond sarcasm. “The gift expert.” Loki tilted his head to the side with a prideful grin, looking away from her. Along the bar the other patrons were speaking to one another in level conversations, their features tilted with the colorful haze of green, blue, and red bar lights. 

She turned her cocktail in tiny pirouettes with painted nails, listening to the soft murmur around them. “Was he looking forward to coming back?” 

Loki was quiet, thinking. “I already know how you felt,” Natasha said teasingly. Loki glanced back over at her questioningly. “How’d you do it?” Natasha asked. “We didn’t give you that ram with lungs.” 

“I could explain it,” Loki said, “but I’m rather afraid you lack the capacity to understand the finer workings of magic.” 

“Too bad I don’t lack the capacity to look up names,” Natasha said. With satisfaction she watched Loki hurry to conceal the falter in his composure, the sloppy way he swallowed the drink he’d been taking. 

“I won’t tell Thor,” Natasha said, leaning forward onto the bar. She propped her head up on interlaced fingers. “Probably.” 

“Do you blackmail all of your acquaintances?” Loki asked behind her, resting his back against the stool. 

“Only some of them,” Natasha said with a grin. “You should feel honored to make the select few.” 

“How prestigious,” Loki said wryly. 

“I think so,” Natasha said. She caught the bartender’s eye. He came over with new drinks for both of them. 

Natasha picked up her cocktail, watching the liquid illuminate in the colored light. “So what were you up to,” Natasha asked casually. “During your Tony-free week?” She set her glass down, turning her attention onto Loki. “Thor would not shut up about Tony’s week with him.” 

“Oh,” Loki said, “took a few worlds as my own, sent 12,00 pairs of boots to Fury.” 

“It’s a shame that didn’t actually happen,” Natasha said. “I would’ve paid to see that.” 

“I could not fail to notice,” Loki said, pushing his dark hair back from his face, “that Rogers seems unwell?” 

“Yeah,” Natasha said. “He’s had a few hard missions the last couple of weeks.” Her shoulders tensed as she leaned back from the bar. “He takes on too much responsibility. Why? Do you feel some fondness for the Captain?” 

“Me?” Loki asked. “Do I seem charitable?” 

Natasha grinned dismissively. 

The conversation wove along comfortably, threading itself through several more drinks until at last a black card passed between Natasha and the bartender before they were on their way again. Loki pulled open the bar door as they left, glancing down at Natasha disparagingly. He’d seen her ankle bend in a misplaced step of her heel. 

“Perhaps I should transport us back,” he said. 

Natasha glared at him before a devious smirk lit up her face. She pulled her keys out of her pocket. “I’ve always wondered if you could drive.” She tossed the keys hard at him, stifling a laugh when they hit his chest before falling into his open hand.

Loki looked over at the pristine red sports car. Tony never let him drive. Not that he’d minded, because Tony _should_ drive them around. Being passenger was more elite, as far as Loki was concerned. Still, this car was beautiful, in a thousand dangerous ways. Natasha grinned at him, waiting for his answer. She could see temptation cracking through his lax posture. 

“Get in,” Loki said, walking around to the driver’s seat. 

Natasha slipped into the passenger seat comfortably, waiting. Loki had inserted the key, but was trying to calculate what came next. Natasha pulled her seatbelt away from her, glancing at his, undone. He clicked his in an instance, annoyed. 

“Turn the key,” Natasha said. 

“Evidently,” Loki said, listening intently as the engine revved. Natasha would never know if he used a little magic to cheat. 

“Now put it in reverse,” Natasha said. His head snapped towards her, his lips in a thin, tense line. She pointed towards the gear stick. “The R,” she said. 

His hand took the gear stick authoritatively, slamming it back into reverse. The car jolted as he fumbled between the brakes and gas before backing them out into a blessedly empty street. “Now drive,” Natasha said. 

They shot backwards. 

“No put it into drive,” Natasha said when they’d come to a stop. She grabbed the stick, shifting the gear herself. Loki punched the gas in reply, finally slipping magic into the works. The wind whipped at their hair and clothes as they rocketed down the street, impossibly missing several parked cars. 

“Interesting,” Natasha said. 

“I am quite capable of maneuvering your antiquated technology,” Loki said. 

“Right,” Natasha said, throwing her feet up onto her dashboard and leaning back. The cold wind felt good against her hot cheeks. “Now when that light thing up there turns red I’m going to need you to stop,” she said, closing her eyes. 

“Stop,” Loki repeated. 

She opened her eyes a few seconds later to see them hurtling towards the distant yellow light. “Stop!” She yelled. The engine screamed louder, hurtling them through the intersection. 

She turned back over her seat, watching the lights behind them turn red. Loki stifled a smug grin beside her, keeping his smirking eyes on the road. 

“God I hope there aren’t any cops around,” she said, leaning into the headrest. 

Loki’s hand reached out to the stereo, seeking the volume switch. Natasha let him falter between stations, then the base, before finding it. Music blared into the night, folding seamlessly into the wind and the faint catches of exhaust. She pulled her seat’s recliner, falling back comfortably, her feet still propped on the dashboard. Despite the chill she felt warm, her face flushed by alcohol. Even with a god of chaos at the wheel she felt comfortable, contented in the acceleration. 

Loki took pointless routes, revving the engine and punching down the gas, using magic to avoid collisions. It wasn’t until a yellow light appeared beside the speedometer that he slowed down, calling out over the wind and noise to Natasha. 

“It’s running low on gas,” Natasha said, coming out of her almost-sleep. “You can pay for the tank.” 

Somehow they managed to arrive at Avenger’s Tower quickly then, without passing a single gas station. Natasha made a hazy mental note to charge him in the morning. 

In the lifeless early morning hours they returned into the lobby, Andor excitedly running to greet his master. Natasha stuck out her hand. “Keys,” she said. 

Loki begrudgingly returned them. 

Natasha walked back towards the elevator sleepily, a hangover close at hand. “Nice to have you back,” she said as the doors opened. 

Andor grumbled amiably in Loki’s hands, imitating a purr, as Natasha disappeared into the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((by now I've touched on bits of everything requested last fic but if you feel like you got skipped over please message me))


	10. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly tagging notice: Tony has a lot of anxiety going on at the beginning half of this chapter.
> 
>  
> 
> \--------

Tony had been staring at the coffee maker for ten minutes now. Not that he was aware of it. 

It had all been going so well. He had been going smoothly through the motions, completely unaware of the coffee maker itself, contentedly rollicking through his plans for his return when the filter jammed and he realized that he’d been doing it all wrong and when had they gotten this machine and was it the same since last time and did he know how to fix it? No, he didn’t, no he should, of course he should, this was simple, easy, stupid home appliance nonsense and why, why wasn’t it coming back to him?

Nothing was right. The room sounded different, and he wasn’t sure where or how, maybe it was the plumbing, but it was different. And it smelled different. Sterile. And none of the food he liked was in the fridge, and he didn’t even like this shit anymore, he’d acclimated to Loki’s pretentious bullshit, but why did the leftover pepperoni pizza in the fridge have to make his stomach churn, and why the fuck did Bruce tell him that there was tea in the cabinet, he knew Tony rarely drank the stuff, had he been assuming something, was there something in that that Tony was supposed to be reading into, and someone had broken his favorite fucking mug, he was sure of it. 

His bedroom had a thick layer of dust on everything, and last night when he’d tumbled into bed Loki had never come back, not that Tony cared, he was a perfectly adequate adult thank you so much, it didn’t even occur to him that his bed sheets that smelled like stale detergent were cold and vast and free of that indignant, annoyed sighing thing that Loki did when Tony stole covers. 

So Tony stumbled for the one familiarity he’d always had. “Jarvis,” Tony said. 

The steady silence of the cold kitchen carried on. 

“Jarvis,” Tony said, louder. “Not cool. Come on, Jarvis.” 

The kitchen was absolutely silent, and the coffee maker was still fucking there, dull and broken in Tony’s sight, his ears pricked, waiting mercilessly for that absent reply, his heart palpitating in shaking thuds. “Jarvis!” 

“Uh, Tony?” His spine tensed, surprised by the new voice. It was Bruce, sheepishly looking towards him with constrained concern. “We had to reprogram Jarvis so that SHIELD doesn’t know you’re here.” He walked closer to Tony, gently taking in the man’s obvious anxiety. “It’s a precaution Tony. He was programmed to recognize you, and him responding to you is the sort of thing that SHIELD’s surveillance would pick up on.” 

“I’ll recode it myself,” Tony said quickly, his wide eyes locking onto Bruce, “there’s nothing some freshman IT wanna-be at SHIELD can do that I’m not ten steps ahead of.” 

“It’s to protect you,” Bruce said gently, calmly. He reached out, unlatching Tony’s grip from the coffeemaker, subtly taking his pulse. “Take a seat at the table. I’ll get this going.” 

Tony flexed his free hand, finding it rigid and terse. He hadn’t known that it was latched onto the coffeemaker. “Did you change that thing,” Tony said defensively, walking away. 

“Yeah,” Bruce lied. “The old one gave out.” He dumped the grinds in the trash, slipping in a decaf blend instead as Tony’s back was turned. “So what’re the plans for today?” 

Fast cars, loud music, someone’s name he’d pretend to know the next morning--- all of his old comforts slipped through his mind as possible solutions to the escape he needed. He took in a shallow breath. It’d been a long time since those days. Not by the calendar necessarily, but a lot had changed in the months he’d spent traveling. “Tony?” 

“Um, I think Rhodey’s coming by.” 

“Tuesday,” Bruce said. “He’s coming by Tuesday. He’s got Iron Patriot assignments until then, remember?” 

“Right,” Tony said. “Pepper at four.” 

“Tomorrow,” Bruce said. “She’s coming at four tomorrow. She flew out to Boston after she came by last night, remember?” 

“Okay,” Tony said with annoyance. Bruce sighed as he pulled mugs down from the cabinets, pouring the freshly brewed coffee in. He set them down on the table, taking a seat beside Tony. 

“You know, before Natasha recruited me I spent a long time in India. I thought I was beyond SHIELD’s scope,” he said, laughing softly, dismissing the naïve idea. “I met a lot of great people, I traveled a lot, I saw a lot of wonderful and beautiful places, I ate great food…after a while I became used to it. I started feeling at home, in a way. I started to learn what daily life looked like there, and that became my daily life.” Bruce could see Tony watching him from the corner of his eye. “I really liked being there.” He took a drink of his coffee. “Don’t get me wrong. What I’m doing here is important too. And I like it here too. But it’s different. And that took me a while to get used to again.” 

Tony dragged in a heavy breath, saying nothing. 

“Transitions take time. The food here was probably the worst, though. I didn’t know what I liked anymore. Thank god it’s New York though, right? You can get anything you want here.” 

“I think we got a little burnt out on Schwarma last time,” Tony said. 

Bruce shrugged. “Maybe it can make a comeback.” 

Tony’s heart was still palpitating uncomfortably, but he appreciated Bruce’s trying. He wanted to tell Bruce that it wasn’t the same, that nothing on Earth could compare, Bruce hadn’t seen half the shit that Tony had, that his comfortable understanding of how the world worked had been torn out from under him a thousand times harder than when the Chitauri invasion occurred--- but there was no point in that. 

That, he could understand being difficult. Coming home wasn’t supposed to be. 

“Well,” Bruce said. “It’s two in the afternoon. We could go out for a late lunch or…” 

“That bakery on Third Avenue,” Tony said. “Let’s go there.” He stood up quickly from his chair. “I’ll go get dressed in something other than boxers and be back down in a minute.” 

 

He returned before Bruce could wash the mugs. His shirt was wrinkled and he still had bed head more or less, but his boxers had been replaced by denim and that was something. 

“I’ll drive,” Bruce said as they headed towards the garage.

Tony paused when he walked by Natasha’s car. There were thick, black tire marks beneath her wheels. “How did that happen?” He asked as he got into the passenger seat of Bruce’s car. 

“Oh,” Bruce said as they backed out, “Loki didn’t tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” 

“About his late night joy ride with Natasha? She let him drive her car.” 

“Oh Jesus,” Tony said quietly. He looked back over his shoulder as they drove away, searching the car for damage. “How is it in one piece?” 

“Honestly?” Bruce asked. “I think magic was the only thing holding that car together. He burnt through a tank of gas. I think Natasha intends to hold him to paying for it.” 

“Tell her to take it out of one of the Stark Industry accounts,” Tony said. 

“I think she just wants to satisfaction of making Loki pay for it,” Bruce said. 

 

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the bakery, taking an obscure table in the back. Miraculously, no one seemed to notice or care that they were there. It wasn’t too busy, and it was comfortable. It was soothing, too. Loki stole pastries most often from this bakery when Tony was bitching about whatever local food they were having while on the road. 

Bruce let Tony bliss out eating for a while before saying anything. It had been too long since they’d had any one on one time. At the welcome back party Tony had seemed lighter, happier. Louder. Until the night wore on and he became more anxious and uncertain. He was just adjusting, Bruce decided. 

“Do you really think that Loki will pay Natasha back?” Bruce asked.

Tony shook his head, lighting up. “No,” he said, grinning with a full mouth. He swallowed. “Not a chance.” 

Tony scratched at his head, ruffling his choppy hair. “I’ve seen him swindle gods and rob kings blind with their blessing. I’d like to be there when Natasha tries, though. He likes her.” Tony smirked a little. “She did outsmart him.” It was a fact Tony had sometimes playfully reminded Loki of with relish. 

“I don’t know,” Bruce said. “I think she has a shot.” He took a slow sip of his drink. “So you and Loki are doing alright then?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, his features softening. “A few fights here and there, but that’s to be expected.” 

“Like what?” Bruce asked carefully. 

Tony’s gaze drifted out over the bakery, his brow furrowing. “He didn’t handle the whole me going to Asgard thing with flying colors.” Tony pushed out a heavy breath. “I didn’t even bring up the F-G word and he---”

“F-G…?” 

Tony frowned, pulling his lips down uncomfortably. “You know Thor’s whole he’s adopted thing? Loki was adopted from Frost Giants, which have a bit of a Jets and Sharks thing going on with Asgard you could say, and he can’t hear the word without having an identity crisis---“ Tony stopped. “I’m doing the thing again, aren’t I? I know, you’re not that kind of doctor.” 

Bruce shook his head. “I kind of missed this in a way,” he said. 

A tiny smile crept up into the corner of Tony’s mouth, but he stayed cool about it. “It’s a touchy subject for him, and Jotunheim, and I mean, you know that when he throws a fit he goes cosmic, world-conquering…and his family. Wow.” Tony shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t sign up for awkward family dynamics.” 

Bruce nodded, leaning his heavy frame back into his chair. He pushed his glasses back against his face, quietly considering. “Well, there are hundreds of years of history there,” he said at last. 

“That’s one way of putting it,” Tony said. 

“So that ram,” Bruce said after a while. 

“Andor,” Tony corrected him. 

“Andor,” Bruce said. They’d all been gossiping about it behind the couple’s back, eagerly speculating. “What’s the story there?” 

Tony shuddered, irritably twitching his shoulders. “The story? It’s fucking creepy, that’s the story.” 

Bruce raised an eyebrow, expectantly waiting. “I told him no pets,” Tony said. “Conniving bastard.” Tony crossed his arms across his chest, leaning back. “It’s enchanted,” he explained. “Don’t ask why. I don’t know why.” 

Bruce was disappointed with that answer. He’d been hoping for something more exciting. “So,” Tony asked. “What’s been going on around here?” 

“Coulson has a new dream team,” Bruce said. “Not super heroes,” he said, “but they’ve been occupying Fury with their problems. Destroyed a plane or something. It’s been a blessing, really. Takes the heat off of us.” 

“Otherwise, nothing too extraordinary has happened. They don’t send us out into the field as much.” Bruce tried to grasp for one interesting detail, one something that could rival with Tony’s stories about his travels. Nothing came close. “It’s been boring, actually.” 

“Hmm,” Tony said, his mind drifting towards Jarvis again. 

“Jane’s coming in this week,” Bruce said. “Have you met her?” 

Tony’s attention came back. “Thor’s girlfriend,” Bruce said, noticing the excited gleam in Tony’s eye. It would thrill Tony to no end if Bruce found someone. The man dimmed back a bit. 

“That name sounds familiar,” Tony said. “Oh,” he said. Of course it did. He’d heard Thor talk about Jane before, and more recently, recommend sharing his travel data with her. 

“I think you’ll like her,” Bruce said. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. 

 

“You’ve been busy,” Loki’s voice purred out to Tony from a far corner of the room. Tony glanced up across his bedroom, making out the familiar face. He’d been in the middle of taking off his shirt, ready to throw himself into an early evening nap. 

“Says Mr. Joyride,” Tony said. 

Loki’s shoulders rose up and down in a smooth, callous arch. “I don’t know what you refer to.” 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said, dropping his shirt onto the floor. Had he showered since they came back? He didn’t think he had. “You didn’t come back last night,” he stated, pulling open one of his dresser drawers. 

He could sense Loki’s calculated approach behind his back, his faint footsteps. “You seemed unwell and I thought it best to retire to my own floor.” Tony felt his cold fingers wrap around his warm bare waist, making him flinch. “Why?” Loki asked into his ear. “Did you miss me?” 

“What? Miss your cold feet in my back at three in the morning?” Tony asked. He leaned forward, struggling to riffle through his drawer of old clothes as Loki pulled the anxious man back into his chest. 

“Among other things,” Loki said. He rested his chin on top of Tony’s head, a move that never failed to make the man indignant. 

“Like your snoring,” Tony said, trying in vain to break free. 

“Gods do not snore,” Loki said arrogantly. “It’s you uncivilized mortals that do. And quite loudly, I might add.” 

“You’ve never complained about me being loud before,” Tony quipped back. He stopped struggling against Loki’s arms, waiting. The moment he felt Loki’s grip soften he would break free. Loki knew Tony hated it when he rested his chin on the man’s head. 

“Hmm, but when I’m finished with you your building mates might,” Loki replied, slipping his attention back to the soft space behind Tony’s ear, teasing with his tongue before sucking hard at the tender skin. He heard Tony’s breath hitch, felt his tense muscles relax just a bit. 

“My floor’s practically soundproof,” Tony said. 

“Is that a challenge?” Loki asked, his clever eyes blinking astutely. 

He made the mistake of loosening his grip. Tony was out of his arms and ducking back around him in a heartbeat, taking the god by surprise. He spun around, eyeing Tony closely. The man had a clean pair of boxers from the drawer that he had balled up in his fist, and shook at Loki admonishingly now. “You know I hate the head thing,” Tony said. 

Loki straightened his back, surveying Tony down the bridge of his nose. He made to lunge at Tony, to pin the man down to the bed behind them, but Tony was faster, dodging his predictable play and instead ducking around him. Loki spun around, a sharp grin cutting into his lips. 

“You’ll definitely be the one kneeling tonight,” Tony said, his heart racing. This was perfect. It was so familiar, still so daring, and yet so home. He grinned insolently at Loki. 

“Watch yourself Stark,” Loki warned. 

“Oh I am watching myself,” Tony said, dropping the wadded up clothing onto the floor. “The question is, are you?” 

Loki raced at the man again, and again Tony dodged him, gleefully stepping aside after carefully calculating the god’s movement. He laughed openly at Loki’s back in front of him, staring playfully at the god’s tight stance before he felt a pair of arms loop around back behind his own, pulling him tight against a chest. 

The first Loki, the real Loki, turned around snidely to stare at Tony in the arms of his clone. “Everyone always forgets I can do that,” he said. 

“Cheater,” Tony said. 

“Cleverer,” Loki said. He brought his hand to his face, pensively running his pointer finger back and forth across his bottom lip. “Now what am I to do with you?” 

“Cheater,” Tony said again. 

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Loki said. “And what was it that you said? I’d be the one kneeling? Hmm,” he said, glancing at the clone. “That doesn’t seem very respectful, does it?” Tony felt the being behind him laugh softly, darkly. 

“I thought it was generous,” Tony said. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Now you’re just being stupid,” he said, snapping his fingers toward the bed. The clone shoved Tony forward, letting go as the man hit the mattress. Tony rolled back over to see that it had vanished and left one Loki staring down at him, his expression dark and uncertain. 

“What?” Tony asked. “Only one of you tonight?” 

“One of me already overwhelms your delicate mind as it is. I hate to think what two of me would do to you,” Loki said, adjusting his collar. 

“That’s not what you said a month ago,” Tony said. 

“I can still hear your screaming,” Loki said. Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Why don’t you just shut up and come over here already,” Tony said, his back still flat against the mattress. He was hard and impatient, his heart beating fast as adrenaline rocketed through him.

“Ordering me around still, Stark?” Loki began walking slowly away, pointedly choosing his steps. 

“That was more of a suggestion,” Tony said, sitting up straight. “Just get the hell over here already is an order.” 

Loki ignored him, choosing instead to close his eyes haughtily as he strode just a little further away. He stopped a few feet from the bathroom door, waiting. 

He didn’t have to turn back to see Tony flustering, impatience biting away at him. Loki knew that the longer he waited the more overcome Tony would become, and that always played out in his favor. Tony’s patience for their games was always just a little less than Loki’s, for he’d take gratification over winning half the time. 

“Please,” Tony said loudly, crassly, making it abundantly clear that there was no kindness in the word. 

Loki held his hand up to his ear, pretending to wait. 

“Ohfortheloveof---please just get the fuck over here already,” Tony said. Loki turned back around on his heel, his sharp eyes waiting. “Come fuck me into this mattress you arrogant bastard, _please_.” 

Tony laughed in a pleased crackle as the god’s body swooped down over him, muttering salaciously, remarking on the word please. 

The first sound that came from Tony’s lips was soft and needy as rough fingers freed him from the little fabric that was left on his aching body.

Every sound that came after that was anything but quiet.


	11. Folders, Apples, and Doubles

His eyelids stirred, twitching softly as the early morning light met them. The sun was shining gleefully on his sleep-enveloped face, forcing him to wake. There was something heavy on his calves, and as he slowly became more aware, he recognized Loki’s legs, tangled in with his along the amber sheets. Tony sighed softly, gently twisting over onto his side, careful not to move his legs too much. 

Loki was asleep, his characteristically sharp face smoothed and softened by slumber. His dark eyelashes stood out against his angular cheekbones and ivory complexion, twitching minutely as they did in the midst of a dream. In rest his lips had fallen open, a shallow breath passing rhythmically between them. Tony’s mouth twisted up into a fond grin, accented by the shadows of stubble along his face. 

Carefully, Tony untangled their legs, holding his breath as he did. There was a faint mutter beside him, but Tony decided, it was only sleep talking. He reached over and brushed his thumb softly along Loki’s cheek, arching his back down, his t-shirt pulling back in the motion and revealing the small of his back as he whispered a morning kiss with lips like feathers against the forehead of the sleeping god. 

Sitting up, Tony quietly left the bed, tip-toeing across the room. Delicately he pulled some clothes from his dresser before heading to the elevator. He’d shower down on Loki’s floor and let him sleep up here. 

 

“You’re up bright and early,” Steve said as Tony rushed past him, throwing open one of the kitchen cabinets. 

“I’ve got a meeting,” Tony said, pouring coffee in a travel mug. Steve turned around from his chair, resting his arm against the back of it.

“Like a business meeting? I thought Pepper was in Boston and can you…really do that? Shouldn’t you be lying low?” 

Tony’s eye roll was hidden from Steve as he snapped closed the travel mug’s lid. “I’m meeting with Jane. Thor’s girlfriend?” Tony turned around to see Steve’s face light up in recognition. “We’re going to swap research. Like baseball cards,” he said. 

“Ah. Okay,” Steve said. “Hey, maybe you should wear a cap or something if you’re going out. Shield’s got surveillance everywhere.” 

“I’ll handle it,” Tony replied, finding that he had actually sort of missed this kind of nagging from Steve. 

 

Tony was sitting on the floor, manila folders scattered around him in a circle, sorting through them. Jane was watching him, cross-legged in a computer chair, an oversized sweater wrapped around her. “I’ve been trying to get Darcy to organize those,” she said. 

It was a moment before Tony replied. His eyes zipped across page after page, drawing connections. “Interns,” Tony said absently. “Where did you get this?” He then asked with far more lucidity, holding up a sketch depicting the bifrost. 

“When Thor and I went to Asgard,” Jane said. “I have a limited amount of information on its function from the gate keeper. He wasn’t too eager about sharing it…anyway,” she said, cheerfully pointing to another folder behind Tony, “that one has some more information on locations in Asgard.” 

“I have one too,” Tony said, gesturing to the digital folder on the screen behind Jane. She clicked it open as he began reading the folder behind him. They had been like this for a few hours now, comparing notes and quizzing one another mercilessly. Busy silence relapsed over them as they read, stopping only to ask questions. They had become quick companions, mutually impressed by the other’s work. 

“You visited the garden too?” Jane asked. She turned around when Tony didn’t answer her. His eyes were still glued to her page, staring intently at a map. “Tony?” She said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. 

“There’s an orchard,” Tony said. “You saw the orchard?” There was an intensity in the question that caught her off guard. 

“Yeah,” Jane said casually. “But it wasn’t very large compared to the rest of the agricultural lands, it was only a few fruit trees. Why?” 

Tony wetted his bottom lip with his tongue anxiously, considering. “You know that myth?” 

“With the golden apples?” Jane asked. “Yeah,” she said, leaning back against the computer chair. Her sweater fell down from her shoulders. “It’s just a story, Tony. I mean, I don’t really think there’s anything to it. Lots of cultures have stories about enchanted foods, it’s a convenient explanation for something like immortality.” A wry, kind smile flickered across her face. She couldn’t tell what Tony was thinking as he looked up at her, the light from her office outlining his dark, styled hair and t-shirt. It was refreshing to be with someone so articulate and knowledgeable, although Tony brought just as many questions as answers. 

“So Thor’s never said anything, huh?” 

“Don’t tell me Loki has,” Jane said, picking up interest. Tony shook his head. 

“I…haven’t asked. I thought the same as you did but…” Tony looked back down at the map. “I’ve seen a lot to change my mind.” Jane’s eyes stayed trained on him as she raced back through her memory, struggling to recall if any of those fruit trees had been for apples made of gold. “When’s the next time you’re going back?” Tony asked. 

“I could make it sooner rather than later,” Jane said thoughtfully. “Although, I don’t think that’s the sort of thing they would just let you walk out with…but I could at least see what’s there, ask…”

“I’ve got a few devices I could send with you,” Tony offered. “You could discreetly obtain samples, test them, we could see what makes them work…”

“Or I could just ask Thor,” Jane said, pulling out her phone. She pressed dial when Tony said nothing, turning his attention back onto the papers. Jane’s voice lit up the room, animatedly bouncing along before coming to the reason for her call. There was a long pause as she listened to the other line. Tony watched her closely, waiting. “Right, well, I figured,” Jane said. “Yeah, no, of course. Uh huh, yeah, no, it’s going great. I’ll catch up with you later. Okay. Okay. You too. Bye.” 

She set her phone back down on the computer desk. “He says it’s just a story,” Jane said, smiling dismissively. 

Tony rubbed at his chin, glancing back and forth between her and the map. “Will you take a few devices with you next time anyway?” 

“Sure,” Jane said. Then she pulled her sweater back around her shoulders, considering. “If there were golden apples,” she said, “would you…want one?” 

It took Tony a while to answer. “I’m not sure,” he said. He glanced over at her. “What about you?”

“I don’t know either,” Jane said. She stared down at her feet, at the thin navy and gray stripes of her socks. “Everything comes with a price, I guess. It might be interesting, but it might…be boring too. Eventually.” 

Tony nodded. Uncertain, they both awkwardly returned to scanning through the documents until Jane spoke a while later. “What do you think of their family?” She asked, keeping her head down. 

Tony took a deep breath. “Interesting,” he said. Jane smiled quietly. 

“They ask about you both constantly,” she said. “I haven’t really said anything,” she said, looking at him reassuringly. “I didn’t think it was my place and it’s a bit awkward.” 

Tony grinned in thanks. “Must be strange having your sons run off to mortals.” 

“I’m so glad there’s someone else to talk to about it,” Jane said, leaning forward in her chair. “It’s so bizarre, you can’t just tell people.” The air in the room was getting lighter, the mood brightening between them. “Did Frigga pull you aside or was that just me?” 

“It wasn’t just you,” Tony said, his face unpleasant. 

“Good,” Jane said. “I mean not good, but good,” she said, breaking into a laugh. “Oh I thought I was going to die.”

“That thought crossed my mind,” Tony said, his eyebrows furrowing in disbelief before he also laughed. “What an intense family.” 

“Tell me about it,” Jane said. 

The sun had set before Tony left Jane’s. It was a few more hours before he returned to the tower, taking time to just drive, stopping occasionally to try binging on fast food and noticing how things had changed in his absence. He felt much lighter after visiting Jane’s, and certainly a thousand times better. When he returned to his bedroom he found that Loki was lying in the bed as he’d left him that morning. 

Tony eased into bed quietly. Loki rolled over, his arm winding around Tony. “Hey,” Tony said. The god muttered sleepily in acknowledgement. “Loki,” Tony said, his voice pausing to be sure Loki was listening, “that thing about the golden apples. Is it real?” It was quiet. Loki’s arm was firm around him, and despite his immediacy, Tony wondered if he was even there, as he waited intensely for the answer. “Loki?” 

“No,” Loki said. He took back his arm, rolling off his side and onto his back. Tony turned onto his side, unable to see anything in the darkness. He opened his mouth, as though that would bring forth the right words to ask. Tony wasn’t sure what he wanted to say exactly. Loki’s fingers wandered towards him then, finding the man’s hair and languidly combing through the thick scruff. Tony quieted, relaxing. It was just a silly legend, like Jane had said. With his hand resting on Loki’s chest he drifted off to sleep. 

 

“You know what awaits you,” Loki said, standing before Tony. He wasn’t sure why, but Tony felt certain that he could not move in the chair. Not that it made a difference. It was all he could do to watch the god loom over him, a tower of raven black cut by slits of emerald. “There is nothing after this pitiful corpse of flesh rots off your bones. You know that.” Loki turned his wrist, a golden apple falling out from his sleeve. 

“I went through such lengths to procure this for you,” he said coldly. One dark eyebrow raised upon his sallow face as he surveyed the apple. “You want this, do you not, Stark?” 

His green eyes flared as he leaned in towards Tony. “Stark?” Loki leaned back, taking the apple up to his lips. He sunk one incisor down into the golden flesh, its juice leaking along the skin, onto his fingers. His tooth tore into the supple flesh, carving out a perfect bite. Loki leaned forward over Tony, reaching out his free hand. Tony felt one finger slip into his mouth, pulling open his jaw easily. Then that familiar mouth was on his, that saliva slicked crisp of apple sliding in. Loki’s finger released him. 

“You will chew,” he said darkly, his cat-like eyes focused in on Tony. The man felt himself obeying, Loki watching him with a self-satisfied expression as he carved out another bite from the apple, the golden flesh peeking out between his flushed lips. This time Tony accepted the bite eagerly, ripping the apple out from its home between Loki’s teeth. 

Loki grinned wider, deep satisfaction rippling across his regal stance, watching the insolent man’s jaw move, his eyes growing lustful. Loki took his time, biting into the apple slowly, letting the juice drip down his chin as Tony watched him. 

This time when their lips met Tony moaned, ravenously prying the golden flesh from him. His chin slick with juice, he accepted each bite as it came until Loki was holding the apple to his lips, smugly watching Tony sink his fleetingly mortal jaw into the wavering fruit in his hands. 

Loki held the remaining core between his fingers, dangling it by the stem. “It will serve you well not to forget this,” he said, his eyes leaving the lifeless core to seize Tony’s appearance hungrily. Tony heard laughter as the dream tumbled forward, the logic of it informing him instantaneously that they were now hundreds of years later. Tony was sitting slumped against a locked door. 

“I thought you wanted to see me,” Tony said. 

Loki flipped a page, his feet resting in the lap of another. “No,” Loki said from the other side of the door. “Go amuse yourself elsewhere. Perhaps in the flesh of Asgard,” he said dryly. 

“I don’t fit in there,” Tony said. “You’re the only one that---why? Why did you do this to me? Why did you offer me forever just to abandon me?” 

“By the nine I tire of this conversation,” Loki’s voice snapped from behind the door. His temporary companion excused themselves, instinctively frightened by the rage emanating from Loki now. “Did I bond myself to you forever? Did I, Tony? Do you think it my concern that you pine for your past?” 

Tony stood up, anger fueling him as he turned back to the closed door, running head first into the old, tired argument. “You are the only one I have left! You’re the only one that remembers me, you, you’re all that I’ve got of home and---”

“I am not your home,” a snarling, enraged voice growled immediately from the other side of the door. 

“You are the closest thing to it.” 

“Since when did you become so sentimental? Were you not a playboy when I met you? Go amuse yourself elsewhere.” 

“Loki, just open this door god damn it.” 

“No.” 

“Fine,” Tony snapped, kicking the door fiercely before turning to leave. He knew he’d be back again, just as Loki did. He would always be there whenever Loki grew bored, or was taking his own turn at being sentimental. He knew he’d always be Tony’s lifeline, the only familiarity left in Tony's existence. And he liked it that way. 

 

Tony’s eyes opened in the darkness. He felt the bed for Loki, accidentally smacking his fingers into Loki’s face. “Loki,” Tony whispered, finding his shoulder, pushing against it. “Wake up.” 

“What,” Loki said, his voice cracking between confusion and annoyance. Tony was silent for a moment before the question blurted itself out. 

“Do I bore you?” 

Loki’s face twisted into incredulous disbelief in the dark. “No,” he said, his voice winding out in a long, resolute note. He rolled over, finding Tony’s body and pulling it into him. “Return to sleep, Stark,” he said, closing his eyes again. His mortal was having a nightmare, but he had been contentedly dreaming and wished to again. 

“Sure?” Tony said, his voice faltering between a reply and a question. 

“Is it not obvious,” Loki said, already drifting back into sleep, his words soft and inarticulate. Tony leaned back against him, relaxing when he heard Loki’s breath return to a sleeping state. He closed his eyes, pushing the nightmare away. It had just been his brain, weaving together the events of the day. It had no meaning. None at all. 

 

“Shit we need to do this more often,” Tony said, laughing with Bruce. They’d spent the day together, and had been joined later by Steve and Clint. Tony had forgotten the night before, and was very content that afternoon. Loki had left their get together half way through, not bothering to make up an excuse. Tony figured that it was half that they bored him, and half that he was giving Tony some alone time with his friends. Perhaps Clint’s suspicious stare in his direction had done it. Either way, it didn’t bother Tony. 

Things were getting better now. He was happy with his friends, he was enjoying catching up with everyone, and he’d had two phone conversations with Jane since the day before as she’d been reviewing his travel log. Things were becoming really, truly enjoyable. 

They had to call it a night earlier than Tony would’ve liked. Seven was laughably early by his standards, but as Steve reminded them, and Bruce tiredly agreed, they had responsibilities in the morning. 

Tony returned to his floor only to find it empty. “Loki?” Tony called out, walking into the empty room. “Must’ve gone to his floor,” Tony muttered. He was in far too good a mood to call it a night. He’d go down and see if he couldn’t get Loki to go out to bars with him. 

Loki’s floor was gaudier than Tony remembered it. Tony walked out onto the tapestry-like carpeting, seeking Loki’s limber frame in one of the black chairs. Or sofa. He glanced around. The lights on the floor were out except for the crystal ceiling. Tony frowned. He’d half expected to find Loki asleep on the sofa. 

Tony looked over towards the closed bedroom door. It seemed doubtful that he was sleeping this early, but the last thing that Tony wanted was to search every damn floor if Loki was just napping on this one. 

Tony headed towards the bedroom door, carelessly throwing it open, expecting it to be empty. 

His mouth fell open. There were two Lokis on the bed---one’s mouth open wide with lust, his neck arched back as the other pulled his hair, riding hard, smirking in a thick veil of sweat, his hips thrusting relentlessly. It was all Tony could do to watch, uncomfortably aware of how quickly this was getting to him, a heat searing through him as he grew hard, aware that his presence was completely unnoticed as one of their shouts rattled the room. Tony cleared his throat loudly, his face flushed dark red. 

The bottom one’s face had been shoved against the mattress, and he turned towards Tony then, his lustful, tired eyes taking in Tony’s presence without comment, blinking slowly, unwilling to stop. His face turned back into the mattress as the other’s fingers pressed against his neck, their backs arching. 

Tony cleared his throat louder, his heart racing, his skin on fire. It vaguely occurred to him that it would be prudent to walk away, or at least to look elsewhere, _but_. 

“In a minute Stark,” they both whined together. 

It was the bottom that came first, his familiar cry making Tony’s head spin, and then the other, only a few seconds behind. He stretched, resting his head contentedly on the other’s back, closing his eyes with a smirk. Tony took the interlude to guess which was real, though he was hopeless at it. Tony’s heart was beating hard, and he was aching now, and a thought was coming back to him, a horrible, stupid, unwelcome thought, that was going to blurt itself out--- 

“Don’t tell me this is because I bore you.” 

Both Lokis moaned disagreeably, separating themselves. Both laid on the mattress, covered in sweat, staring up at the ceiling, spent. Tony was watching nervously, his face still flushed red, the nightmare beginning to replaying itself in his head. 

“This is not about you,” one of them said. 

“Must everything be about you, Stark?” The other asked. 

“But you---“ Tony said, wavering in the doorway. 

“Oh, do come here,” one of them said, gesturing towards the bed. Tony did not have to be told twice. “I will remind you,” he said as he pulled Tony against his bare chest, “that I did find you in a similar position in Ganymede.” 

“That was different,” Tony said defensively as his shirt was pulled from him. 

“And at that castle,” the other said, pushing his slicked hair back from his face. 

“Okay, well that was---“ Tony’s breath caught as the other unbuckled his belt, sliding it from his jeans with a loud zip before dropping it to the floor. 

“Well,” one said, watching as it pulled Tony’s clothes from him, “is it truly my fault if you are less talented than I in such matters?” He stroked Tony’s cock with smug satisfaction as Tony flinched, bucking towards his hand. 

“So are you gonna tell me which one’s really you?” Tony asked, gazing lustfully at the Loki in front of him as the other held him tight to his chest. 

“No,” they both said together. 

“You can guess,” the one behind him said, running his teeth against the shell of Tony’s ear. Loki’s hands released Tony’s arms, running greedily down his chest, before spreading Tony’s legs with strong arms. He laughed darkly as Tony gasped, his weight falling back into him completely. “You are mine Stark,” he purred into his ear. 

“Completely mine,” the other said, his hand roughly teasing Tony’s cock, his thumb circling against precome as he stared into Tony’s eyes. The man was more than ready to play their game, a playful, challenging gleam sparking in his eyes. 

“Tell us what you want,” the other said, spreading his legs until they were stretching uncomfortably. Tony grinned, his head resting against Loki’s bare chest. The other Loki was just below him, and he watched down his chest with agony as Loki pressed a rough, sloppy kiss against his thigh, ignoring his cock completely. 

He stared up at Tony, his dark eyes dancing playfully as he waited for Tony to ask, to say something. Tony moaned as Loki licked his lips slowly, dragging his tongue across his wet lips. He was covered in long, pink scratches that trailed along his soft skin, smattered with bite marks. “Okay,” Tony’s voice said, all too aware of how powerfully the other held him, nuzzling his lips into the back of Tony’s neck. 

Loki held him back as his hips thrust forward involuntarily, a moan shaking from his throat as he watched the other Loki lean down, his tongue gladly leaving a wet trail across the slit of Tony’s cock before leaning back again and trailing his finger tips playfully along Tony. “He hasn’t said what he wants,” Loki said, resting his head against Tony’s leg. 

“No, he hasn’t,” the other Loki agreed. “Perhaps we should choose?” 

Tony’s hands were tight against the bed, his breathing short and excited. He grinned wide, his dark brown eyes unwilling to leave the Loki in front of him. Loki smiled expectantly up at him, still waiting. “I want you,” Tony said, “now,” he said breathlessly, feeling gloriously exposed. Loki glanced at his dripping cock and then past Tony’s expectant gaze to the other Loki. Tony tried to turn his head to see, but all he could catch was the other Loki grinning wickedly as his lips found Tony’s cock again, his tongue finding its way along the thick, throbbing vein there, and then flicking and teasing. He laughed as Tony moaned, catching another glance at the other Loki. 

Tony was putty in their hands. His eyes fluttered closed, a blissful smile tucking itself up into his open mouth. Loki sucked hard at the tip of his cock, grinning as Tony moaned loudly, his hips thrusting hopelessly forward. He gasped loudly as Loki took his time, enjoying the sight of Tony come undone. 

Tony felt the other toothily kiss his shoulder, then suck hard at the skin, smirking against the warm skin as Tony moaned from deep in his throat. Heat curled across the pit of his stomach, weighing heavily. On either side of him he heard Loki laugh, leisurely, darkly delighted. 

“I—“ Tony gasped. He wanted to say that he couldn’t hold on any longer, to tease him a little more, not to let him go, but it was pointless as he gave in to the warmth blossoming through him, the stars sparking before his eyes. He didn’t hear himself shout, crying Loki’s name. 

He didn’t open his eyes until the Loki behind him was releasing him, pushing him away. Tony fell back against the bed, grinning contentedly up at Loki through half-open eyes. Loki smirked, turning away from him. 

“Which one’s really you?” Tony asked a while later. 

“Go take a shower,” one of them said. 

“No, I want to know,” Tony said, sitting up a little. 

“No,” they both said, grinning mischievously. 

“That’s not fair,” Tony said. 

“What’s not fair,” said one. 

“Is this,” the other said. 

Tony found himself back up on his floor, standing naked, his skin tattooed with dark pink flushes. “Son of a bitch,” Tony smirked. 

He went to take a shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for reading.


	12. Let's Blackmail the God of Mischief

“Just pin it down with something,” Bruce said, watching from behind the kitchen counter. He sipped a mug of tea with detached interest as Clint shot a nasty glare back at him. 

“Yeah, let me harpoon the damn thing,” Clint said, crouching down. Through the chair legs around the kitchen table he could just barely make out the outline of Andor’s fleece behind a curve of metal. 

“If the fucker would just come here,” Clint said, knocking a chair forward. It smacked into the table with a crashing thunk. The ram shot off from the clattering furniture, squishing itself up against the ledge of the kitchen counter and growling loudly at Clint. “I just want to look at you,” Clint said, inching closer. The growls got louder. 

“Jarvis, get Natasha down here,” Clint said. “And Steve, while we’re at it. Someone will be able to figure it out.” 

“Understood,” Jarvis said. 

“Why don’t you just ask Tony?” Bruce said. He was doing his best to downplay his amusement, not because he feared some well placed arrows but because he didn’t want Clint to catch on and stop acting out. It was far too fun to stop. 

“Tony hates the fucker just as much as I do, and I’m not asking that green-eyed bastard,” Clint said, lunging at Andor again. He hit the counter with a loud crack as the ram dashed off. “This thing tore apart my entire room,” Clint said. “And when I get my hands on it, it’s going in the pound.” 

“I’m sure Loki will take that well,” Bruce said. Clint rolled over onto his back, staring scathingly at Bruce. 

“I’ll put it in a SHIELD holding vault or something,” Clint said. He sat up stiffly, stretching his back painfully. 

“What’s going on?” Natasha asked. Steve followed closely behind her into the room. 

Clint brightened as he saw Natasha and seized the opportunity to whine dramatically. “That thing ate my Godiva chocolates, tore a hole the size of New Hampshire in my bed for its nest, and I swear to god it hid my keys,” Clint said. Natasha rolled her eyes. “Seriously. I can’t find them anywhere. You have to help me catch it before it steals my license.” 

“It has a brain the size of your thumbnail,” Natasha said. “It’s not capable of plotting against you.” 

“Oh it’s not?” Clint said, standing up energetically. “Go look at my room, Natasha, and then tell me what it’s not capable of. It might look all cute and friendly but---“

“---it’s perfectly manageable,” Natasha cut him off. She walked past him, pulling open one of the kitchen drawers with a loud thud. Clint turned back over his shoulder, watching her more than a little indignantly. With a flourish she pulled out a floral tablecloth. “You two chase it out into the open and we’ll trap it under this.” 

A tiny bit of pride for Natasha crept up into Clint’s glance towards her as he nodded, walking over to the corner of the room. Andor followed his movement from beneath the kitchen table. 

Steve broke the skeptical, bemused look he’d been sharing with Bruce to turn his attention towards the table. He began systematically shaking the table chairs. It wasn’t until one of the legs came a little too close that Andor charged out again, steering clear of Clint and fleeing out into the open kitchen instead. 

The tablecloth unfurled with a loud thwump from Natasha’s hands. She dropped to the floor instantly, pinning the tiny monster beneath taut fabric in a flurry of printed roses, Clint and Steve rushing to her aid and taking the remaining ends. 

Andor’s form ran in circles beneath what little loose space there was beneath the cloth, growling and snapping. 

“I don’t want to get my hands any closer,” Clint said, eyeing the struggling form suspiciously. 

“It’s just a ram,” Steve said with a laugh. “What could it do?” 

“You haven’t seen my room,” Clint said. Natasha leaned forward, narrowing the space between herself and the ram, cutting off his room to run. His tiny form wriggled beneath the cloth, letting out a loud, pathetic cry. “You don’t think he can hear that, do you?” Clint asked in a hushed voice. 

“Who can hear what?” Natasha asked. 

“Loki,” Clint said, glancing around the room nervously. “Hear this thing.” 

Natasha, Steve, and Bruce all broke into laughter. “Come on Clint,” Natasha said. “He doesn’t have super hearing.” 

Clint’s face went deadpan. “You don’t know what he can and can’t do,” Clint said defensively. Natasha grinned as she looked back down at the cloth, her red curls falling over her shoulder. 

“Hold the ends and let go when I say,” Natasha said. Swiftly she twisted the sheet, swaddling Andor in the cloth, Steve and Clint letting go just in time for her to spin it around. The ram went silent, holding still. 

“I wouldn’t hold that so close to your body,” Clint said. Natasha shrugged. 

“Do we have a cat carrier or something around here?” Steve asked. 

“We might have something in the lab,” Bruce said, leaving. 

Natasha was holding the cloth out at arm length when he returned a few minutes later, carrying a heavy steel cage. Judging by Clint’s smugness, Bruce guessed that Andor had attempted to bite her. “We never did animal testing,” Bruce announced as he set the cage down on the table. “We just had this around.” 

“That doesn’t sound suspicious at all,” Clint said. 

“I’m serious,” Bruce said, opening the door. 

“Well I’m just glad you have it in your dungeon,” Clint said, stepping aside so that Natasha could toss the wriggling cloth inside. Andor emerged with a vengeance, taking a corner between his teeth and tearing at it viciously. 

They stood around the cage quietly, each with varying degrees of bewilderment on their face. 

“Do you think…do you think that’s his offspring or something?” Clint asked, his curious voice cracking the silence. “Oww!” He moaned, rubbing him arm. Natasha had punched him playfully. “What was that for?” 

“Clint, you don’t really think that he gave birth to a ram, do you?” She asked. 

“He gave birth to a snake!” Clint said, his voice climbing. “I read about it!” 

“Those are just stories,” Bruce said, noticing the uncertain, startled look on Steve’s face. “Come on now.” 

“Then what’s your guess?” Clint asked from above crossed arms. Bruce shook his head, smirking. 

“A pet? I mean, that’s what it looks like.” 

“No, no,” Clint said. “It’s got to be something.” Andor whined loudly, as if to agree. Clint glanced back towards the elevator doors anxiously. “Shut up,” he told the ram. 

“Loki doesn’t seem like the pet keeping type,” Steve said. “Maybe it’s…like for prizes or something? Like people that raise livestock for shows?” 

Bruce looked down his glasses at Steve, grinning. “And what contest is he going to enter this into? Most bizarre?” Steve shrugged defensively. 

“Do you think we could run some tests on it?” Clint asked, peering brazenly into the cage. 

“First you’re afraid that Loki’s going to find out we have it, then you want to run tests on it?” Natasha asked, a laugh of disbelief scattering her words. 

“Why not?” Clint asked, resting his hands atop the cage. Andor jumped, snapping fruitlessly at his protected hands. 

“That’s a bad idea,” Bruce said. 

“Well I want to know what’s up with it,” Clint said. “Maybe it’s got a little bomb inside of it, or maybe it’s going to multiply and take over the city, or maybe, just maybe, it’s not a ram at all. Maybe it’s some magic-crap operative sent to spy on us.” 

“We should just ask Tony what he knows,” Steve said. “That would be much easier.” Clint sighed loudly in defeat. “What are you going to do with it now?” Steve asked. 

“Sell it on ebay,” Clint replied. 

“Yeah, okay.” Bruce said. “You’ll have a lawsuit from whoever buys it.” 

They fell quiet again, watching the ram as its head turned towards each of them in a looping cycle, its beady black eyes struggling to account for all of the beings staring down at it. 

“I guess we could keep it in the lab,” Bruce said. 

“And what are you going to tell Loki?” Steve asked. 

“To look at what it did to my room,” Clint said immediately. 

“That he can have it back when he pays for the gas in my car,” Natasha said. 

“Use it as black mail,” Steve said, frowning. “Okay then.” 

“Nat, help me carry this downstairs,” Clint said, grabbing one side of the cage. She took up the other side quickly, helping him to lift it from the table. They bickered over who was holding it level as they made their way into the elevator, the cage teeter tottering between them with the ram whining loudly as it slid back and forth. Steve and Bruce watched them leave with varying degrees of amusement. 

 

“This is a thirteenth floor announcement,” Jarvis said dully, his voice rattling the room. Loki jumped in surprise, waking the slumbering man in his lap. “The creature, wait, I am informed that it is an abominable creature…This abominable creature is being kept in captivity in the lab until reparations for Mr. Barton’s floor and one tank of gas are repaid.” 

Tony sat up sleepily as the room quieted again. He could hear Loki’s sharp inhalation beside him. Tony closed his eyes, dreading what he was going to see when they opened. Slowly he rubbed his heavy eyelids, keeping them closed tight. “What time is it?” He asked calmly. 

“Time for your cursed friends to recall whom their guest is,” Loki snapped, Tony falling from him as he stood from the couch to walk to the door. 

“Loki,” Tony said irritably. “Don’t---don’t start something.” 

“Me?” Loki said, his voice soaring upward. “I hardly consider responding to a declaration of war _starting something_.” 

Tony rolled his eyes, glad that Loki’s back was to him. With aching muscles he stood up from the couch, knocking the book Loki had been reading to the floor as he did. He pressed his palm to his forehead. “Could you just wait until I’ve had a cup of coffee, put a shirt on…” He arched his back, stretching. “Loki?” 

“Do they think this a game?” Loki said, turning his attention back to Tony. He walked up to the man, his steps prideful and menacing. 

“Loki, it’s just a stuffed animal,” Tony said. “And you do owe Natasha a tank of gas. You drove half of New York on your joy ride.” His bloodshot brown eyes blinked slowly as he took in a long breath, waiting for Loki to respond. He saw something mischievous curl up into Loki’s eyes and flicker down into his lips, drawing a thin smile. “Oh my god,” Tony said. “Can you just let me wake up for five minutes before you go postal? I’ve been lounging all day.” 

“Sure,” Loki said, stepping past him and sitting back down on the couch, throwing his arm along the back. “Go, take your shower.” 

“No,” Tony said. “Come with me. I’m not letting you out of my sight.” He crossed his arms, glaring. “Do you really think I’d fall for that? Really?” 

“Anthony,” Loki said, watching Tony sneer at the name, “go. I’ll be here when you get back. Promise.” He smiled sweetly, an expression that could only look creepy upon him. 

“You know what, let’s just go now. It’s not like they haven’t seen me like this, though if I’m going to be on the five o’clock news I’d prefer not to look like this but---“

“Go,” Loki said loudly, flicking a finger in the direction of the bathroom. “I will be here. Promise.” 

“Yeah, a god of lies promise,” Tony argued. Loki’s patience deflated instantly, a merciless glare smothering Tony. “Whatever,” Tony said, taking a step towards the bathroom. “Just know that I’m gonna be pissed when I find out about whatever it is.” A thin smile tugged at Loki’s lips but he just shrugged dismissively towards Tony. The man turned around and irritably rushed towards the bathroom to take the fastest shower of his life. 

As the water ran over him he envisioned burning buildings, screaming, a Godzilla-sized Andor tearing a hole in the building… 

“Loki,” Tony called out as he stumbled out of the bathroom, combing his fingers through drenched hair. He was surprised but not relieved when he saw the familiar mess of raven hair still at the sofa. “Okay,” Tony said, hurrying over. 

Loki stood up from the chair dramatically. He glanced down at Tony, clucking his tongue. “You look like a drowned rat,” he said. 

“Wow,” Tony said. “I’m going to remember that you said that.” 

Loki snubbed his nose up indifferently, heading towards the door as Tony felt heat brush up through his hair, drying it. 

“I think you should just pay her back and what did they say about Clint’s floor---“ Tony said as he caught up with Loki in the elevator. The god dismissed his advice the entire ride down, right up until the doors began to open and Tony felt Loki’s arms come down and slip around his waist, securing him. 

Andor was in the lab. And so was Andor. And another Andor. And…a sea of white, mewing fluff, skittering like a tidal wave as Natasha and Clint stood on the computer desk, yelling at each other as they batted the sheep back from them. 

“I told you this was a terrible idea!” Natasha yelled. 

“This was YOUR idea!” Clint screamed back, taking a swing at an Andor with Tony’s keyboard. 

“That’s an antique!” Tony yelled from the elevator. 

Clint and Natasha turned towards him in sync, a unified pillar of anger in a sea of soft fluff. Tony felt Loki’s arms tighten around him. And then, Loki was laughing loudly, his laughter ringing out over the clamor of the room. His whole chest was shaking as he held Tony to him, preventing the man from acting. 

In slow motion Clint raised up the keyboard, his eyes locked with Tony’s, stubbornly relishing every second of Tony’s face before he slammed the keyboard full force into the table, snapping it in half in a shower of keys. Natasha looked from the spectacle back to Tony, her expression cold as she tore an Andor off of her arm. 

“You have got to be kidding me!” Tony yelled, struggling against Loki with all of his might. The god was still laughing, with tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Tony leaned forcefully back into him suddenly, wedging some space between himself and the little ram entering the elevator. “Loki,” Tony said with a note of fear, trying in vain to escape the little creature. 

“You’re still paying for my room!” Clint yelled across them, tossing the broken keyboard out into the sea of sheep. 

“And my gas!” Natasha yelled. 

“Loki,” Tony whined, “he broke my keyboard.” The god’s arms released him, allowing Loki to pick up the ram in the elevator, the real Andor, with affection. He stroked the ram before placing it on his shoulder, staring down smugly at Tony with one raised eyebrow. “Do something,” Tony said. 

“I thought you didn’t want me to start something,” Loki said. 

“This is starting something!” Tony yelled at him, stepping away only to lunge forward again as rams began to flood the elevator. He pressed himself to Loki, his aggravation rising. “Loki! God damn it! Call them off!” 

A cup of pens shattered in the elevator, thrown by Natasha’s deft hand. 

“Hey!” Tony yelled back over his shoulder, still pressing himself against Loki’s laughing chest. 

A pad of sticky notes smacked into the wall, ricocheting off and falling onto one of the Andor’s heads. 

A stapler followed it from Clint, then a paperweight, some books, and finally, in one joint movement, Natasha and Clint launched the computer chair in their direction, Andors falling from it as it hurtled through the air and slammed into the couple in the elevator. 

“ALL OF YOU!!” Tony bellowed, flinching and shaking as Andors pelted against his back. “ARE RUINING MY LAB!” 

Loki chuckled, brushing his hand soothingly through Tony’s hair as the cloned Andors in the elevator vanished. “I’m glad you think this is funny!” Tony snapped. 

“WHAT ABOUT US?” Clint screamed over at them. 

Tony grabbed Loki’s hand as the god raised it to help. “He just threw things at me,” Tony said to Loki. “AND SMASHED MY KEYBOARD,” he yelled for Clint to hear. 

“AWW COME ON!” Clint yelled. “I’LL BUY YOU A NEW ONE.” Tony’s fingers loosened their grip around Loki’s wrist. 

“If you can find one,” Tony said pompously. 

Loki petted the Andor on his shoulder, contentedly ignoring the lot of them. 

“ALRIGHT WHATEVER JUST MAKE IT STOP,” Clint yelled, kicking an Andor off the desk.

“Loki,” Tony said confidentially. “Come on.” 

Natasha and Clint watched the sea of sheep around them vanish, leaving the wreckage of a lab behind them. “Fix my lab,” Tony muttered. 

With satisfaction he watched as the pieces came back together, including his keyboard. Shaken, Clint and Natasha gingerly stepped down from the computer desk, crossing their arms defensively. 

“You,” Clint said, pointing a shaking finger. “Your pet, or whatever the hell it is, destroyed my room. That thing should be in the pound.” 

Loki stroked the ram, pretending that it was below him to hear the angry archer. 

Tony fell back against the elevator wall, catching his breath. “All of you,” he muttered. 

“Seriously, just come upstairs and see what it did to my room,” Clint appealed to Tony. 

“I don’t care,” Tony said. “I am going to go crawl back into bed and try to forget the sensation of those little demons touching my back.” 

“Tony,” Clint said desperately. “Just five seconds. That’s all I’m asking.” 

“Fine,” Tony said, moving his legs up against his chest so that Clint and Natasha could step into the elevator. The archer sneered triumphantly at Loki as he pressed the button for his floor. 

The ride up was tense and quiet. Clint was self-righteous and excited as the elevator climbed upwards. Tony kept making dramatic faces that no one noticed as he sat, pouting, on the floor. Loki was the epitome of contentment, flamboyantly stroking Andor’s fleece as the little ram purred on his shoulder. Natasha simply frowned, though she rather gave off the impression that she was reevaluating her life choices. 

“SEE,” Clint said as the elevator doors opened. 

He walked into the room, pointing at the bed. 

Tony glanced up at Loki knowingly. Clint kept his arm stretched out towards the bed, staring indignantly at Loki. “You fucker,” he said. 

“I beg your pardon,” Loki said snidely. 

Clint looked to the rest of the beings in the elevator, seeking approval. Neither Avenger seemed fooled by the scene, but they didn’t rush to his aid either. “You fixed it,” Clint said. He turned back towards the pristine room, throwing his hands up. He got a few paces further before he spun back around. “Ah-hah! That thing still has my keys. You missed the keys.” 

“These keys?” Loki asked, taking them from his pocket. He swung them back and forth on his finger, listening to the jingle-jangle. “I found them on the lobby floor. It seems you are rather careless, Agent Barton.” 

“Whatever,” Clint said, walking back to the elevator to snatch them from Loki’s hands. The god lifted them out of reach, cackling. “Playing keep away,” Clint said scornfully. “How mature.” 

“Mhmm,” Loki said, tossing them out into the open room. Clint crossed his arms, riled up and ready to start something. Natasha stepped in. 

“I’m assuming that there’s a full tank of gas in my car,” Natasha said, stepping out of the elevator and onto Clint’s floor. “So looks like we’re even.” 

Clint turned back towards her. “We are not,” Clint said. “I just got mauled by a thousand of those things. This is not done.” 

“Cool, sounds like we’re good,” Tony said, following Natasha’s lead. He slammed the elevator close button, cutting off the sound of another protest. Tony shut his eyes for a moment, taking in a long, slow breath with the patience of a parent. 

“You did put gas in the car,” Tony said. 

“No,” Loki said behind him. Tony grumbled to himself as the elevator rose, taking them to Tony’s floor. 

“I’m getting coffee, or whiskey actually,” Tony announced, walking out into his room. Andor ran past him, diving under the bed. “And you are going to stay---“ He turned around to see that Loki was gone, undoubtedly to screw with Clint. “Whatever,” Tony said, half amused, half too tired to care. “He did smash my keyboard,” Tony mumbled as he fell contentedly into bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some light-hearted mischief to help kick your week off :)


	13. Little Things.

Tony awoke, dimly, to the sensation of the bed sinking down beside him in the dark room. Loki was laughing, softly, to himself. Tony listened for a while to his breathy, rattling giggles (was it appropriate to call them giggles? This was Loki, after all) hoping that they would subside. Preferring a faster method, Tony stuck his cold feet against Loki’s back, drawing a loud, spattering hiss. He felt long, powerful fingers swiftly curl around his feet, sharply pressing in against the soft arch of his foot. 

Tony gasped, struggling to pull his feet away. Loki replied with a long, winding cackle from the bottom of his throat. 

“Let go,” Tony said, fumbling around for Loki’s wrist. “Ha-are-ha-ha-you SERIOUSLY-ha-NO. STOP,” Tony demanded between the involuntary laughter looping out of him in the dark as those long fingers began to curl playfully against his sensitive feet. 

“Ticklish, Stark?” Loki’s voice asked without sympathy. Tony had found Loki’s arm in the lightless room and was racing to grasp onto Loki’s wrist as another laugh rattled out of his throat. 

“You-ha- _knowIam_ ,” Tony spluttered. He squeezed Loki’s wrist hard. The god’s hand lifted away, and for a moment, Tony thought he was safe. “Do I want to know what you did?” Tony asked. “It must’ve been incredible to get you in this sort of mood.” 

Tony blinked in the darkness, deciding that Loki’s lack of reply was his cue to return to sleep. He was just about to lie down when he felt those fingers at his shoulder, pushing his back down into the bed. Tony acquiesced, comfortably sinking into the bed as Loki slid over him, the weight of his body steady and reassuring. Tony would’ve gone back to sleep like that, but he knew the god upon his chest all too well and that god was far from restful. 

“I do not wish to spoil the surprise,” Loki said. Tony’s arms came up around his chest, resting on his back. 

Tony thought to say something about damages, and Stark Industries being compensated, but then he remembered that was Pepper’s problem now. Besides, Loki’s fingers were wandering their way into his hair now, and he could let that thought go, couldn’t he…

“Your mortal friends are so easily riled,” Loki murmured, delight coloring his words. “It is almost too easy.” 

“Yeah?” Tony’s sleepy, agreeable voice replied. “And what about Thor?” Loki’s chest shook against Tony’s as he laughed again. 

“That was a bonus,” Loki said. 

Before Tony could reply he felt lips pressing softly at his throat and his eyes were closing contentedly, sinking into the sensation of lips wandering down, along his collarbone, a warm tongue…

“Ouch!” Tony snapped, flinching as Loki bit him playfully. His heart raced. 

A soft kiss was pressed to the spot. Tony began to relax again, his legs sinking back down onto the bed. He’d clasped onto Loki just a bit too tightly at the surprise and he released his grip now, one of his hands falling to the bed. The warm breath felt good against his cool skin, and pleasant in his yet sleepy state, and a little, charmed smile was slipping across Tony’s face, “Ouch!” He said, leaning up off his shoulders and smacking into Loki’s forehead. Loki laughed, a bemused, thudding chortle. 

Tony felt Loki’s face sliding comfortably into the crook of his neck, and these moods in Loki were on the rare side, they truly were, but…”Loki,” Tony said, his voice tired and quietly pleading. He took in a deep breath, tensing reflexively as he felt Loki pull his head away. 

Though Tony could see nothing, he knew habitually that Loki was considering something closely. He waited, listening to themselves softly breathing, until Loki was ready. 

“Are you unwell?” Loki asked. His voice was too level and clipped to read into, and the answer was something that Tony did not have. He hated to be bursting Loki’s bubble, truly, he did, and ordinarily he would’ve pried every simpering, wicked trick he could to take advantage of this, he would’ve had Loki granting his darker wishes…

“I’m tired,” Tony said. 

“Mhmm,” Loki said, sitting up. Tony missed his chest against him immediately. “Perhaps there is something you wish to say,” Loki said. 

Loki let the question hang in the air without mercy. All Tony could feel was Loki’s weight sinking down into his hips as he waited for an answer. Tony turned his head to the side on his pillow, too stubborn to say anything. 

It felt like an eternity before Loki’s voice came again. “Are you still moping over my comparing you to a drowned rat?” 

Tony grinned. He had to. “No,” Tony said. “Though, now that you mention it, you still owe me for that.” 

“Something else then,” Loki said. His lean back was rigidly straight as he fished for Tony’s answer, the mirth in him still alive but flickering down to warm coals. He was far more adept at prying things from Tony than the man would ever be at him. 

“Nothing,” Tony lied. “Babe, I’m just tired,” he said. His hands ran reassuringly down Loki’s waist, his thumbs coming to rest at the god’s hipbones. Loki sighed crossly. 

“It’s the middle of the night,” Tony said, as if that had ever mattered to him before. 

“Tony,” Loki said, leaning down against him again. “You are an unskilled liar. Now, I wish for you to tell me what is vexing that mortal mind of yours and I shall only ask once.” He kissed the crook of Tony’s neck, grinning as the man shifted at his touch. “That is far more than enough.” 

Tony closed his brown eyes, as if he could pretend to sleep. “No. Talking to you about nightmares makes me feel like I’m five,” Tony said. The half-answer felt abundantly generous to his stubborn self. 

“A nightmare,” Loki said thoughtfully. “You are moping over a nightmare,” he said. How could the words not sound mocking? 

“Shut it,” Tony said, regret washing over him and curling down into the pit of his stomach. He reached up to push Loki’s shoulders off of him but the god didn’t budge when he pushed. Damn the bastard could show his strength when he wanted to. Tony let out a frustrated huff.

“Actually, I think it’s just the last of my hangover,” Tony said, lying flat with a loud sigh. His hands rested limply against Loki’s stubborn shoulders. “I’m just tired.” No answer. “If you are smirking at me right now, I swear to god, Loki, I’ll---“ 

“What?” Loki said in a fond, perplexingly arrogant whisper. Tony felt fingers in his hair again, nails brushing along his scalp and sending goose bumps down his skin. “And what was the content of this nightmare? That you bore me?” 

Damn his memory. 

Too prideful to affirm it and too embarrassed to jump straight to a lie, Tony laid in silence. Loki laughed, a quiet, relieved sound. His breath came warmly against Tony’s stiff shoulder, the man tensing. “Oh,” Loki said, the coals of earlier merriment igniting in him again. “Oh Tony.” 

“This is not funny you prick,” Tony said defensively. He’d been daring, he’d been the one sharing something so ugly, so vulnerable and undesirable, how could Loki be laughing? “What is so fucking funny?” Tony demanded. 

He could feel Loki’s face against his chest, and those lips of his slipping up into a smile, unable to contain himself. “What?” Tony demanded. 

“I feel lucky,” Loki muttered. 

Tony’s face contorted into curious disbelief and confusion, his eyes wide in the dark. “You think you’re getting lucky,” Tony said, the words tumbling out in dull, sarcastic thuds. 

Loki rolled his eyes at so typical a Tony answer, unwilling to repeat himself after confessing something so tender. Tony. Boisterous, brazen, bull-headed Tony was feeling insecure about being good enough _for him_. The god that Tony had reminded of his flaws on more than one occasion, the one who had set out to conquer worlds, including this man’s. And while Loki rarely thought upon his faults or took responsibility for them, he was not unaware. Tony did not worship the ground that Loki walked on. He never would. That wasn’t him. 

So to have Tony there, tepidly confessing that he had doubts in himself to Loki, well…

He grinned, grateful that Tony could see nothing of him, contentedly pressing his face to the man’s chest in a side of himself that he kept invisible. “If you’re just going to make fun of me…” Tony warned. 

“Tony,” Loki said, pressing his index finger to the man’s cupid bow and gently separating his lips in the dark. “If I were bored of you, there would be no doubt in that skull of yours. Now, I detest reminding you so,” he said, the heat of his breath slipping down into Tony’s parted mouth, “and lest I spoil you more,” his mouth was oh so close, “I suggest you abandon the thought.” 

Tony gave back twice the kiss he got, mouthy and needy and devoid of boundary. He lost himself in the sound of the sheets rustling around them, his fingers digging into that familiar back, along hipbones, and that hot, wet mouth on his when, “ow-fuuu-“ Tony gasped, pulling back from a toothy grin that had just bitten down hard into his bottom lip. Loki was laughing and playful again, and Tony was…Tony’s head fell back down onto the pillow. A wide grin spread across his face. “You owe me for earlier,” Tony whispered. 

“Before we are finished it shall be you that is owing me,” Loki whispered back. When he found Tony’s lips in the dark they were still wrapped up in a fond grin, and he knew that spark was back in the man’s eyes. 

Whether it’d still be there when he found the full extent of Loki’s pranks tomorrow, well, that was up for debate.


	14. One Good Prank Deserves Another.

He blinked. Slowly, uncertainly, processing the scene in front of him. The calloused fingers holding his cup abandoned their duty, and in the next moment Tony was fumbling with the falling glass, water spilling over his jeans and black hoodie. He groaned, exasperation emitting from his blood shot eyes as they rolled with annoyance. 

Two others watched him, like deer caught in headlights, embarrassed for him and themselves. 

Clint’s arm was raised above his head, holding a pair of silver tongs, in which Andor was firmly grasped. Thor was just inches from the squirming creature, and there was something deeply unsettling about him, something that took Tony a minute to fully articulate…Thor looked like a balloon animal which someone had let the air out of. His muscles were simply deflated, or gone. Tony felt something rising in his stomach, something giddy and insensitive and…

Tony broke into laughter. Loud, enthusiastic laughter that rattled from his shaking chest as he gasped for air, bracing himself on the kitchen table and dropping the glass completely. 

“What the-ha-ha-hell-ha-happened,” Tony gasped, tears in his eyes. 

“You,” Clint said, the word high and indignant, “you know what happened.” 

“No I don’t,” Tony said, standing up and crossing his arms, a shit eating grin spread wide across his face. 

Andor began mewling loudly, his tiny hooves frantically circling through the air as his head craned towards Tony. 

“There is a giant squid in the gym right now,” Clint said, his voice high and graceless. “That Bruce, or should I say, the Hulk is dealing with right now. The entire lobby is crammed with people that have been informed that there is some sort of 90’s boy band impersonation contest going on,” Clint waved Andor for emphasis, “which Natasha is trying to diffuse. She’s going to be fun to deal with later.” Andor mewled pathetically. “And I swear, all of the furniture has been moved exactly two inches to the left.” 

“And all the left shoes are missing,” Thor said. Clint nodded enthusiastically towards him. 

“Do you know what happened when I got into the shower this morning?” Clint asked, turning towards Tony aggressively. 

“Clint, we don’t have that sort of relationship---”

“The shower bled, Tony. Bright, red blood. Like I’m in fucking Carrie or something. That bastard unscrewed the showerhead and stuffed a bunch of capsules with colored power in them,” Clint said. “So I went down to Natasha’s floor, and her shower was purple.”

“Mine was green,” Thor said. 

“It took Thor twenty minutes to get the color out,” Clint announced loudly, gesturing towards his friend with sympathy. “All of the clothes in my drawers were sewn together by one string, so when I pulled out a shirt the whole drawer came out. And there are spoons everywhere, Tony. In the drawers, the cabinets, stuck to light switches---”

“There are a thousand sticking up from the carpet in the common room,” Thor said. 

“A thousand,” Clint repeated dramatically, staring at Tony. 

“And where’s Cap?” Tony asked. 

“Having tea with the queen,” Clint said spitefully. “No. What do you think? He’s keeping Shield occupied until we get this sorted out.” 

Unable to bear the sight of Tony’s bemused grin any longer, Clint decided to proceed with his current mission. Dismissing Tony, Clint extended Andor out towards the god beside him. Thor gingerly took the ram from Clint’s tongs (it was so strange and oddly mesmerizing to see him without his usual physique) and fixed a collar with a long leash attached to it around the little neck. 

“Loki’s not so good with the Andor sharing thing,” Tony said skeptically. “Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?” 

“No, I forgot completely about the sea of menacing sheep,” Clint said coldly. 

“This creature is responsible for many damages,” Thor said. “There is nothing left of our food stores. His containment is necessary.” 

“We’re just going to keep him up on the roof patio,” Clint said. “Unless you want him?” 

“No,” Tony said. “That’s alright.” Clint shrugged. “So,” Tony said, turning his attention towards Thor with unveiled curiosity. “What happened to the six-pack?” 

A great deal of sympathy for Tony swept across Thor’s face. “I am afraid that it too fell victim to Andor’s greed.” 

Clint cracked up. Tony’s eyes had bugged out from him, despite his attempt to appear cool. “Not the beer,” Clint said, patting Thor on the shoulder. “Your muscles.” 

“Oh,” Thor said. “I believe that only the Nornir know what is to come of them.” Clint looked towards Tony for explanation. 

“The norns control fate. It’s an Old Norse thing,” Tony said. “I’ll ask Loki to give them back,” he told Thor. “Maybe throw a ‘please’ in there. Don’t worry.” 

Thor’s disposition did not alter. “It will likely right itself,” he said. “Loki’s pranks often do when the merriment has died.” 

“Or,” Tony suggested, “You could prank him back.” 

The spark that ignited in Clint’s eye did more for the friendship between him and Tony than any of their interactions in the past two years. Thor saw them both, and panicked. 

“I do not think you understand the gravity of what you are up against,” Thor said. “Loki is clever, and talented, and I---“ the devilish smirk between Tony and Clint sent battle-ready adrenaline through his veins, “I do not think it is wise.” 

“Genius,” Tony said, pointing to himself. “And…” He assessed Clint, “archer-guy.” Clint’s face dropped. “We can work with that.” 

“You’re forgetting that your boyfriend chose me for his world trashing team,” Clint said. 

“And he would’ve chose me had he not be so intimidated,” Tony said, tapping his chest, surprised that Clint had brought up, let alone was kidding, about the subject now. 

“Dumb luck,” Clint dismissed him. He reached out with the tongs, prying Andor from Thor’s uncertain grip. 

“This is madness,” Thor said. 

“It’s fun,” Tony corrected him. He took the ram from Clint by the tongs, catching the leash through his fingers. “Besides, I’m here. That’s the best card in the world to play when Loki is involved.” 

Thor and Clint exchanged glances behind the man’s back. 

“We should hurry up though,” Tony said. “While Bruce and Natasha are buying us some time. Let’s go to the lab.” 

“Alright,” Clint said enthusiastically, following close behind Tony. Thor hesitated a moment before following them, torn between his duty to protect them and the dread of becoming further involved in any subject his brother was particularly well versed in. 

 

“I didn’t know that you could do that,” Clint said, earnestly impressed. 

“I’m learning,” Tony said. “I don’t think he’d fall for it under other circumstances, but I’m banking on him being so surprised that he doesn’t inspect this too closely,” Tony said, holding up the decoy Andor. 

“What else do you know,” Clint said, taking the decoy from Tony’s hands with awe. It blinked at him, devoid of personality and drive. 

“When it happens,” Tony said, “you should probably take cover.” 

“We should all take cover,” Thor said, still standing distantly from them as though that could make him innocent, his arms crossed. He had to admit that it did amuse him, somewhat, that Tony was stepping into the fray against his brother, but he wasn’t sure whether that made the man brave or an idiot. 

“Sir,” Jarvis announced. “Dr. Banner and Ms. Romanov have confirmed your request to meet in the common room.” 

“Awesome,” Clint said. “Let’s get this party started.” 

 

Bruce agreed to their plan even faster than Natasha, cutting her off mid-sentence. The idea sponged all the angry exhaustion from his face as he lit up, saying they should get on with it before they lost their chance. “I’m in,” was all Natasha said, her body rigid with pent up anger and exhaustion from the day’s clean up. 

Hundreds of spoons still stuck up from the common room carpet, blunt in their defiance of gravity. The team ignored the disarray, choosing instead to sink into the white couches of the room. Thor had a peculiar expression on his face that rotated leisurely between amusement, dread, curiosity, and anticipation. Tony kept catching his eye and grinning reassuringly. The man was sitting on the back of the couch and facing the elevator so that he could peer down behind him periodically to where the real Andor had been tethered. Resigned to its fate, the ram had fallen asleep behind the couch. 

“Alright,” Tony said, placing the Andor decoy on the coffee table between the couches.

“Hey Jarvis,” Clint said. “Inform Loki that a team meeting has been called to address recent events, a team meeting that includes Tony and his presence is required immediately.” 

 

Loki sauntered into the room leisurely, taking his time as he crossed the field of spoons as though it were the most natural thing in the world. His black garments flared out from him as he carefully chose his footsteps, rather resembling a heron. The team watched contemptuously, Clint rolling his eyes most at the display. 

“You wished for my presence,” Loki said at last, arriving before the cluster of couches and armchairs. 

“You have a lot to answer for,” Bruce said. 

“This?” Loki asked, his eyes flaring in mock disbelief. “It was harmless.” His eyes wandered over towards Tony, evaluating the man critically. His mortal was holding his expression level, but that daring spark was there in his eyes. 

“We think you need to answer for it,” Natasha said. “That’s why we’ve called you to this meeting. Tony,” she said, taking in a heavy, theatrical sigh, “why don’t you tell him?” 

Tony pretended to hesitate. He glanced nervously towards Loki and then away again, as though it were far too much to ask of him. Bruce leaned over and put his hand reassuringly on Tony’s leg. “It’s okay,” Bruce said. “You can tell him.” 

Tony drew in a long, winding breath. He closed his eyes, blowing the air back out in a heavy sigh. “Come on Tony,” Clint said, feigning sympathy. 

The confidence that had draped itself around Loki so elegantly had abandoned him now, falling to the floor like a curtain as he hung on their words, fixated on Tony. His shoulders drew back in a long, tense line as he awaited Tony’s explanation with clenched teeth. 

“Loki,” Tony said heavily, looking towards him with sorrowful eyes. Bruce patted his leg again. “I think that this is in your best interest. It’s not easy for me to say, but—” Tony bit his bottom lip, calculating a pause artfully. 

“You have to say it,” Clint said, watching Loki’s constricted, mask-like face turn in his direction. The god was holding back, but his uncertainty was unmistakable. 

“I just want what is best for you,” Tony said. He kept his eyes averted from Loki, afraid that he was going to crack and blow the whole thing. “That’s why I’ve decided to send Andor away. We all think that he has been a negative influence on you---”

“Stark,” Loki warned. Tony held up his hand, ignoring the god. 

“Let me finish,” Tony said. “I know we’ve had some good times together, but this is it.” As he spoke Natasha leaned forward and slipped an electronic collar over the false Andor’s head. Loki’s attention was torn away from the motion as Tony started up again, holding a remote control-looking device up in his hands from his pocket. “Besides, I think it’s a little childish for a god to coddle something like that, don’t you?” 

All of the Avengers watching him, Loki tumbled between outrage and a burning need to be in control, playing it cool. “Your pathetic mortal minds cannot comprehend something like the craftsmanship of Andor,” Loki said. 

“Loki, we all grow up sometimes,” Bruce said. The veiled mockery in his voice was gruesome. 

“We won’t think any less of you,” Natasha said. Her trying words too sounded cold and flat. 

“We’re sending him to a Shield facility,” Tony said. “He’ll be happy there. They have lots of fields,” Tony bullshitted, “and a farm.” Clint snorted. Natasha elbowed him in the ribs. “We took this device from a beta-testing program. It’ll give Andor a better life. I know it’s hard, but I’m certain that sending Andor away is what’s best for you.” 

“Perhaps Loki may keep the ram if he remedies his pranks,” Thor suggested. Loki’s stiff posture softened minutely with hope as he glanced rigidly in his brother’s direction. 

“No,” Tony said. “This is what’s best.” 

He pressed the button. 

Before Loki’s lips could part there was a roaring explosion. Sound ricocheted through the room like dynamite and then, floating like the first snowflakes of winter, white fluff was falling through the air. 

“Oh,” Tony said. “Uh, well, it was in beta-testing.” 

“Tough break man,” Clint said, turning to the frozen god. Loki stood absolutely still, his soft green eyes stuck to a clump of white fluff falling before his eyes. 

“We’ll, uh, put a vase on that,” Bruce said, brushing the scorch mark of the once-Andor away with his foot. It left a long black trail where his heel dragged along the coffee table. Natasha handed him a pillow to cover it up with. 

Gingerly Bruce set the pillow down. He gently patted it a couple of times. 

“Rest in peace little dude,” Clint said. 

“We’ll get you a new one,” Tony said softly. Loki had not moved a muscle. The Avengers glanced conspiratorially at one another, silently debating if they should call it. Loki’s voice snapped the silence. 

“I do not wish another one,” he said, his quiet voice slipping into anger. His eyes transfixed on the floor. 

Tony leaned back behind the couch, tugging Andor’s leash free. The little ram glanced up at him, still shocked and stunned by the loud noise. Tony snatched it up with a claw-like hand. “Then I wonder what we should do with this one?” 

Loki’s head lifted. Andor’s beady eyes appraised him without much interest, the tiny ram’s world unchanged. Smiles were slipping onto the faces of the people around him. “We fucking got you!” Clint declared. 

“You---“ Loki said, his lips curling into an O. He put his hands on his hips and then dropped them, fretting. Loki looked from the real Andor to Tony to Clint and Natasha and Bruce and then Thor and back again, incapable of containing the dumb-struck look on his face. Had any ever played so bold a prank on him? Clint immediately began laughing, and then Bruce and Natasha, and hesitantly, Thor. Tony grinned, waiting for Loki to take Andor from him. 

Loki said nothing, his proud eyes closing presumptuously as he took Andor from Tony’s outstretched hands. “Mortals,” he muttered derisively. 

“Come on,” Tony said. “You have to admit we got you.” 

“I was just entertaining you,” Loki said. 

“Yeah, with your face,” Clint said, laughing hard when Loki turned towards him indignantly, murderously. Tony subtly pressed his foot up against Loki’s. The god glanced back at him, his green eyes promising further conversations. 

“I just wish Steve could’ve enjoyed this,” Bruce said. 

“Jarvis has it on video for him,” Natasha said. 

“Admit we got you,” Tony said, a playful smile tugging at him. Loki turned his head away, patting Andor reassuringly. “Come on now.” 

Loki reached out and brushed his thumb along Tony’s jaw line, the stubble there pricking him. He blinked, and in the faintest movement, Tony saw a tiny, miniscule smile of amused acknowledgment and concession. “All of you are far too reckless for your own good.” 

“We’re too reckless? Do you hear yourself right now?” Tony said, quietly, with fond amusement, just to him. “Do you, god of chaos?” 

“You would do well to remember that title,” Loki said quietly back to him, smirking with pride. 

“Alright, well I think we can all agree to put a stop in the pranks for now,” Bruce said, calling back the attention of the room. “I never want to clean up a giant squid again.” 

“Loki?” Thor asked. 

“Perhaps for now,” Loki said, his eyes on Tony. It would do him no good to lapse into a vengeful, threatening mess. Not when he'd been the one to deal so much in the past 24 hours. He would only look like a poor sport. Returning the favor, on the other hand... “Though I cannot make promises.” 

“That’s a yes,” Tony translated for him. “Now who wants a drink?” He walked towards the bar, and after a moment, Loki followed him, summoning colored bottles and glasses each time Tony opened a cabinet and began protesting about the absence of something. The others began gravitating towards the bar, and shortly had become situated about it. 

The noise in the room climbed as they all began talking, their conversations marked by the occasional outburst of laughter. Loki and Tony stayed behind the bar, trading glances and contradicting the other’s stories occasionally.

Thor glanced back over the room, still littered with spoons, and felt quietly an astounded sort of fondness for the way things had become. 

Or perhaps, it was wishful thinking. His brother was the god of mischief, after all. Surely he had a return prank in mind already, awaiting the perfect moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because if you're going to get back at Loki you should probably explode the thing he covets. Seems like a perfectly sane line of action. (a bit harsh though, no?) 
> 
> Don't fret, fake Andor is truly just a stuffed animal. 
> 
> This might be the last update for a little while, we'll see. I suspect that this group will wind up demanding to be a distraction and write themselves. Feel free to send prompts my way too, I should've hit on everything from the last set. As always, thank you for reading. I enjoy sharing with you. 
> 
> A friend sent me pictures of RDJ and an alpaca, ([Here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/61448925@N05/9105027071/) and [Here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/61448925@N05/9105003433/)) which, I agree, is a close match with Andor. ;)  
>    
> 


	15. Revenge.

In precisely two months to the day, Loki took his revenge. 

He’d crafted it with utmost care. Three weeks for Tony to stop looking back over his shoulder, watching Loki meticulously for some sort of retribution. Four for him to relax completely. Five for him to subconsciously associate black tea with rewards and pleasure. That had been the most difficult part---Tony would have nothing to do with the drink. So Loki had slicked his teeth with it before Tony found his own mouth teased open by that playful tongue, provoking him. After a while Tony would spot the cup of hot tea beside Loki at dinner, or in the afternoon, and find his mood significantly brightened. 

Loki had turned towards him one evening, an eyebrow raised. “Do you want something, Stark?” Loki had asked, scrutinizing the man’s interest. Tony’s eyes flickered towards the hot tea and back. 

“No,” Tony had said, pretending to return his thoughts to the box of oddities from their day out traveling. In honesty, he’d been watching, waiting to see when Loki would turn his attention onto Tony. That was when Loki knew he was ready for the next trial. 

Seven weeks. Seven for Tony to accept when Loki offered a cup with breakfast with little more than a blink. 

The remaining time to serve the proper dosage of the potion, perfectly masked by the smoky tea. 

One minute of reflection that perhaps they were getting out of hand. Two seconds to put that aside. 

 

Tony stretched his arms, coming slowly from sleep. It didn’t feel as good as it normally did. Flecking his tongue noisily against his hard palate, he stretched again. That was odd. His back wasn’t popping like it normally did. And his mouth felt strange. He ran his tongue across his teeth. That was wrong. No. Not how it was supposed to feel at all. Startled, Tony’s eyes snapped open to find that he was face first in a fold of aubergine colored sheets. 

He lifted his head. The sheets weren’t any further away. Tony made to kick his legs back and found himself falling, rolling over the side of the bed with the ease of a snowball, before landing with a soft splat against the wood floor. His fluff had broken the fall. 

Fluff? 

Tony realized three things at once. One, he was trapped in the body of a fucking ram. Two, Loki was most definitely responsible. Three, Loki was fucking responsible. 

He shuffled his stubby legs forward like a dog paddling through water. The white fluff dragged along heavily across the floor, leaving a clean trail in the layer of dust upon the wooden slats like he was in a damn mop commercial. 

“Loki!” Tony yelled out. But it came more like a “mewwwwlll!” 

Oh, that was loathsome. Not fitting at all. 

Tony dragged his way into the common room. With hope he spotted the tall sofa with its arching blue back. He began running, tripping over himself repeatedly and smashing his horns into the floor, leaving little dents along his trajectory. His heart leapt as he turned the corner, expecting to find the one that would be turning him back. 

Instead, what he found was much, much worse. 

Andor was resting atop the sofa, and he had spotted Tony. His dark, black eyes cast downwards to meet Tony’s, and the man had never felt anything more piercing in his entire life. As if in slow motion, the ram rose up to his feet like a tin soldier preparing to march. 

He leapt from the sofa, and faster than Tony could react, those horns slammed into his head, knocking him over. 

With fire in his chest Tony stood back up, and then he was finding that he could run in this accursed little body, quite well thank you so very much, and the first thing he was going to do with this new found power was ram his head into that fluffy demon before him. 

Loki heard a crash in the kitchen and then a bookshelf toppling over, followed by several smashes of glass hitting the ground in succession. 

 

“Tony. Tony, Tony, Tony,” Loki said, clucking out the name with prideful condescension. He rested his shoulder against the doorframe, leaning into his hip over comfortably crossed arms. Loki’s lips slipped up into a long, thin grin, the mischievous pleasure of which was unmistakable. 

An undeniably hateful mewl was directed towards the god by one of the rams on the floor. “Oh dear,” Loki said. “I cannot discern what you are saying. Shall I assume that you are pleased?” He walked forward gracefully, brushing the bookshelf back up against the wall with a flip of his hand. The broken objects pirouetted back together, rolling onto their places on the shelves. “How kind of you to offer yourself as Andor’s playmate,” Loki said, stepping over Tony and sitting leisurely. He stretched his arm along the back of the sofa, smirking down at Tony. 

Tony began arguing but it came out as a long succession of mewling cries. Andor immediately lost patience with the pitiful racket and scaled the sofa, going to sit against Loki’s thigh. The two watched Tony squeak up at them like a pair of cats. 

Tony tried to climb up onto the sofa, but tumbled down cursing, rolling across the floor in a haze of white. He swore that Andor snickered. Shaking his head indignantly, Tony skulked off. Loki found him twenty minutes later, asleep with his head stuck in a box of crackers. He pried the ram out. In a shower of crumbs he set the still sleeping Tony back down on the floor. 

When he woke again Tony set out to spend the entire evening glaring at Loki from behind corners and under chairs, following him throughout the house and letting his little, unpleasant presence be known. He fell asleep again a few hours later, and in the morning he woke up to find himself up on the couch. 

Loki sauntered past him close to noon, rubbing his eyes and muttering to himself. After a quick, peripheral glance for Andor Tony leapt from the couch and landed on the floor with a faint thud. He spotted Loki’s ankles just a few feet ahead of him and ran. 

“OoowwStaark!” Loki snapped, leaning down to the floor and scooping Tony up in one swoop. He held the snarling ram eye level, his wild eyes blazing. “Stark,” Loki said, tightening his grip on the squirming creature, “I have done far greater for far less and you would do well to remember it.” Tony mewled. “Shall we begin with something that you can recall? Let’s see, was it Stuttgart that I carved out a man’s eye?” Tony stopped wriggling. “Not that I would carve _yours_ out,” Loki said, walking into the kitchen with Tony in his hand. “Though the possibility has crossed my mind.” 

He set Tony down on the kitchen counter and walked slowly to the kitchen table, pulling back a chair. He sat down facing Tony, resting his head in the palm of his hand as though bored. When he spoke again he softened his tone like he’d been kidding the entire time. “I played a similar trick as you on Thor in my youth.” He grinned, relishing the memory with a curved smile. “Though I had a furious mother to contend with, and you have me. Between you and I, I am far more fearsome,” Loki said. 

Tony backed up on the counter, preparing to take a running jump. Loki watched with mild amusement, ready for the inevitable fall. Tony was airborne for nearly five seconds before he plummeted. Loki simply raised his ankles up from the ground, setting them on the chair across from him. 

 

“If you’re going to play with someone the likes of me,” Loki said, ignoring the Tony that was circling his chair like a vortex, “you will lose. Although,” he said, his eyes lighting up, “If you wish to try I will most certainly enjoying watching you lose again.” 

Tony stopped running circles around the chair. “Though next time,” Loki’s voice said from above him, “The stakes should be more interesting.” 

Tony dropped his heavy head against the floor. He was done playing this game. At least for a while. He’d rather challenge Loki on something that he had a shot at, preferably something that was restricted to intellect, not magic. Unless he got bored. Then maybe he’d try something in the field of trickery again. 

That was the real issue. Tony had realized it last night. They were both far too smart and clever to not to be applying themselves to something. Their intellects were turning in on each other, and while that certainly had its advantages at times, it was also a bit like friendly fire. An organism devouring itself. They needed something, Tony just wasn’t sure what it was. 

What he was certain of, however, was that being a toy was not it. 

Tony slumped against the floor. He’d figure something out. Just then the floor shook with a distant vibration. Then it was approaching, no, cantering towards him and Tony stood up too late as Andor rocketed into the room, smacking him square in the head. Loki said nothing as the kitchen chairs around him were struck, rattling and smacking into each other before one was knocked backwards onto the kitchen floor with a loud clatter. 

The two shot out after one another, running in a flurry along the cabinets, smacking into one so hard that it broke with a loud crack that neither seemed to notice before they took off into the common room. Loki rose and began making himself a cup of tea as the bookshelf in the common room toppled, breaking everything again. By the time it had steeped he estimated that they had made it into one of the far bedrooms. Judging by the sound of a portrait smashing to the floor. 

An hour later he deigned it worthy of his venturing out into the house. Lazily he fixed things as he walked along, using magic to clear his path. The homeowner’s bust had been shattered. That was commendable. It was hideous. Loki left it broken. 

He found the two upstairs, a broken lamp between them. Perched atop a bookshelf, Andor had fallen asleep. Tony was several feet from him, on the other side of the lamp, facing him but also asleep. Apparently their standoff had ended in slumber. 

Loki snatched each one up, carrying them back downstairs. He set Andor in one of the unoccupied bedrooms and shut the door. Andor would probably sleep for the remainder of the evening. 

He carried Tony into the living room and set him down on the coffee table, placing one foot on either side of the sleeping ram as he settled down on the sofa. Loki crossed his fingers and set them against his stomach, staring at Tony with a dazed, far-off look. 

As infuriating as Tony could be, Tony was the only one brave enough to try and play with him. That had to be his saving grace. It hadn’t been long into growing up that Loki’s playmates had stopped trying to best him. He couldn’t recall whether he had started the first prank or not. He thought not. It seemed like the sort of thing an older brother would do. Yet, no matter. Loki had been infinitely better at the game. It had delighted him to find something that he was better at, something that made use of his skill set. But it had only taken a couple pranks gone too far for the others to admonish his acts and stop playing entirely. In particular, he remembered Sif, eight hundred years younger with a round face and bright eyes, loudly telling his mother what a brat he was. 

Somewhere along the lines, the foolish, pointless lines of years accumulating, he had become a trickster painted as a devil. He tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. Perhaps there was some truth in that. Yet really, more than anything, he thought about the thrill of pushing his mind just one step further, eagerly awaiting to see the next move the others would make in their chess game. 

It hadn’t been his fault that he was the only one that wanted to play.

Tony whined faintly in his sleep. Loki closed his feet in around Tony, holding him there. The whining stopped. 

Maybe that had been the problem back then? Had there not been enough limits? Loki dropped his head back against the sofa, closing his eyes. He hoped Tony would keep surprising him. Peculiar, how the man could be so intriguing. He didn’t want to frighten Tony off entirely, but he didn’t want to let him win either. 

He shifted his feet as Tony whined again, quieting him. It was a forty-eight hour spell. Perhaps he should be considering the Tony he was going to be dealing with then. The loud, stubborn, passionate Tony that he would be contending with. Well, actually, he was looking forward to facing down those striking brown eyes. He always was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we've hit our nonsense quota for the next fifty chapters.


	16. Night In the Library

“I suppose so,” Loki said quietly, his voice barely even a whisper. Tony nodded. 

They were sitting on the floor, a few feet apart, surrounded by open books like a halo around them. It was night. Far above them was a massive skylight, letting in a deep blue light, speckled with unfamiliar constellations. 

Strictly speaking, the library was off limits to patrons at night, but neither was particularly opposed to breaking and entering. 

Not that breaking in had been necessary. Just fun. 

“You don’t ever think about that?” Tony asked back in a whisper. Speaking aloud felt unnatural in the space so late at night, blanketed by the solitude of early morning as it was. Loki tilted his head to the side, leaning into his shoulder. In the dark library Tony could make out only his face, illuminated by the skylight above. 

“Rarely,” Loki said. “It seems rather pointless.” 

“How could something like that be pointless?” Tony asked. He looked so earnest and kind in the blue glow of his arc reactor and the light above. 

“It just is,” Loki said, grinning sorrowfully. “You seem to have put a lot of thought into it.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I guess. I mean, I’d want to be put close to home.” 

When he’d suggested breaking into the library he’d envisioned something steamy and deliciously cliché between the stacks, but the night had other plans for them. Somehow they’d ended up on the floor, quietly speaking to one another. Now conversations were unfolding between them in the way that only the heart of night would allow. Tony leaned back into his arms, making himself comfortable. This was nice. He didn’t get to say these things often. Or hear them from Loki. 

“What’s your answer then?” Loki whispered. 

“I used to think Malibu, or New York, but now…” Tony’s voice faded. He wasn’t sure he _could_ say it. He swallowed hard, not wanting to lose the chance to say it either. “I think I’d want you to decide.” 

Tony could hear Loki draw in a long, slow breath. He deliberated a while before his voice came back softly. “Not for a very long time.” 

“Your turn,” Tony said. 

“Hmmm,” Loki said faintly, considering a question. “Do you think you existed before you were born?” He turned his head comfortably towards Tony, waiting. 

Tony frowned in the arc reactor light. “That used to be such an easy question to answer,” Tony said slowly. “But visiting Helheim makes questions like that harder to answer.” 

“What was the answer before?” Loki asked.

“No,” Tony said. “And nothing after, probably.” He let out a sigh. “You don’t know the answer, do you?” 

“No,” Loki said thoughtfully. 

“What do you think?” Tony asked. He felt comfortable and content sitting on the floor, watching Loki take his time considering questions. 

“I---” Loki tried to imagine Tony in some other incarnation. If that were true, how many lives had Tony lived while Loki had only this one? Had he spent all those years with Tony existing somewhere else, never knowing? “Seems odd for a god to exist and not exist.” 

“But if you think you can die…” Tony said quietly. 

“You’re suggesting that gods are mortal,” Loki said. 

“I’m just not sure what the difference is exactly if you can die,” Tony said. 

Loki blinked, licking his lips with a peculiar grin. “Your turn.” 

“If you could choose a different life and erase everything, would you? Would you be someone else?” 

“If I could still meet you.” 

Tony tilted his head down, looking up at Loki with a bemused grin. “How cute,” he said with playful sarcasm. Loki smirked back mischievously. “Your turn.” 

“This question is for before you met me.” He took in a breath. “Where did you call home?” Tony asked the question in the softest whisper his voice could manage. He knew it was delicate, but it also felt safe to ask in this setting.

Loki waited a long time before answering, his face shifting subtly in the starlight as his eyes wandered along the ghostly outlines of the library shelves. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt at home in the world,” Loki said quietly. 

“Which world?” Tony whispered. Loki glanced over at his face, his strong jaw line set below soft eyes cast in gentle artificial blue light. 

“All of it,” Loki said. He brushed his dark hair back over his shoulder. “I feel like,” he said, his voice low and soft, “a visitor. Do you remember when I took your hand and walked you through the streets, invisible to others?” Tony’s cheeks turned warm. “That has a power to it. You seem to think it is sad,” he said gently. There was zero self-pity in his voice. He only appeared interested in what Tony thought of it.

“I don’t know. I think what you’re talking about, I think everyone feels that way sometimes,” Tony said. “Like you’re just looking in on a scene? But not really part of it? But Loki, I don’t think you’re outside of this world. You’re a part of it.” 

“Really, Stark?” Loki asked. It sounded playful, but it fell heavily in the night. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Even if you didn’t want to be. Physically you can’t be outside of it, and just that makes you part of it. But that’s not really the question,” Tony said, sitting forward. Loki mirrored his action, coming a little closer as he did. “You belong in this world just as much as anyone else, but you definitely belong with me. You’re home.” 

Loki looked away, a genuinely pleased, uncontrollable little smile tugging at his lips, demanding to fight as Loki attempted to conceal it. He gave up, letting the grin settle in. Tony scooted across the floor, just barely a foot away from him. “My turn,” Loki said. 

“Do you wish you could have been born as one that practices magic?”

Tony sat up a little straighter, aware that he could feel Loki’s breath occasionally as they were sitting so close. He looked up towards the skylight as he mulled over the question, mentally running through his life. “I never would’ve felt compelled to invent, I never would’ve gone to MIT or been Iron Man. Money can get a lot of things, believe me, but I think with magic, getting everything I wanted…you wouldn’t be sitting across from me right now.” 

“I haven’t gotten everything I wanted,” Loki said. 

Tony began to back pedal, panicking a little that he’d offended Loki. “I just mean it seems that everything would be easier, not that life is perfect---”

“No,” Loki said softly, making it clear that the statement had not been said of offence. “It seems that life has its own ideas, magic or not.” 

“Do you believe in destiny then?” Tony asked. The question had been raised earlier as well. 

“Sometimes it seems that way,” Loki said quietly. “No matter how I push nothing ever seemed to go my way, no cunning, or artifice could save me.” He said the words with detached acceptance. “Perhaps there was something I could not control.” 

Tony was still thinking about the answer when he felt Loki’s hand come to rest on his knee. He looked up in the darkness, finding Loki’s black eyes steadily watching him. “Maybe things work out for a reason,” Tony said quietly. 

“It was not until I met you that I began to think so,” Loki said primly. He took his hand away, and Tony watched as it settled behind the god’s neck, massaging it in self-assurance. 

“I don’t care if there’s a reason or not,” Tony said, turning around to lay his back into Loki’s chest. The god’s arms came up around him, settling comfortably around his waist as his legs tucked in around Tony. “I’m happy right now,” he said quietly, “that’s what matters.” Loki’s cold nose pressed against his neck as the god leaned forward, resting his head on the man’s shoulder. He closed his eyes. 

Tony reached out his arm to the side, straining a little. Loki loosened his grip just enough for Tony to grab one of the open books. He held it up to his arc reactor and began reading the page slowly, his voice breaking out of a whisper for the first time that night. His low voice pattered smoothly along the words, pleasing and warm. Loki listened to him with contentment, Tony’s voice vibrating in his chest and against Loki so that he could feel it each time the man took in a breath or began another page, his arm gently brushing along Loki’s side as he turned the pages. 

In the morning, both would stubbornly pretend that their night had not been so soft or tender. They would probably insult one another more than usual to make up for it. There might even be a briefly lived fight that would end in recklessly rough makeup, just to prove to the other that they were not sentimental. But for now, together in the library, things were just as they should be.

Tony’s voice rose up towards the skylight gently, Loki’s head still comfortably resting against his shoulder. “Here, then, is a great mystery,” said Tony. “For you who love the little prince, as for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere- we do not know where- a sheep we have never met has or has not eaten a rose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote is from The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 
> 
> Surprise fluff. 
> 
> Not to worry, smutty chapters are in the forecast.


	17. Submerged

“No,” Tony said, eying the dark pool nervously. “Bottomless, lightless pits are not my thing.” 

“I’ll leave you by yourself then,” Loki said, his shirt slipping to the ground and leaving his bare white shoulder blades beneath exposed. His voice echoed along the cave walls, loud over the sound of water droplets falling. 

Tony was seated on the wet floor, watching him with fearful interest. The journey through the cave had been fine. It was the pit of water in front of him that he found unsettling. It sucked the strange blue and purple light within the cave down into its surface, reflecting nothing. “As I said, you shan’t drown,” Loki said nonchalantly, dropping his trousers to the ground. He kicked them to the side, glancing back over his shoulder at Tony, the shadows of the cave resting upon his face.

“I’ll wait here,” Tony said. Loki turned from him, slowly peeling the rest of his garments from his skin to abandon them with the rest on the ground. Stones clattered, echoing off the walls as he stepped forward, his toes stopping just before the pool. It irritated him to have brought Tony so far just to have the man balk as things got interesting. Still, he wasn’t quite ready to give up. 

“All by yourself,” Loki said, making the words sound thoughtful and reasoned. 

“Feel free to keep prancing around the pool,” Tony said, knowing well that he was being led on. “But I’m not going in.” 

His stomach lurched with dread just looking at the pool. 

A stone tumbled into the water as Loki stepped delicately along the edge, inching closer to Tony. He kept his eyes on the ground. “It’d be a shame if one of the malicious, blood-thirsty creatures so abundant in this dwelling came across your soft flesh.” He ran his hand casually down his side, pressing his thumb along his ribs, dipping into his waist, pressing along his hip bone as he studied the dimly lit floor. “Well,” he said, stretching his hands out in front of him, lacing his long fingers together, “I suppose it can’t be helped.” 

“Please tell me more,” Tony said, ignoring the impulse to rid himself of his own shirt. “Tell me about the blood-thirsty creatures you’re going to leave me for.” 

“Oh,” Loki said, “they have wonderfully sharp teeth.” He combed his long black hair back behind his ear. “First they’ll paralyze you with their venom. Then they’ll slowly run their razor-like incisors along your flesh as you watch, helpless.” He brushed his pointer finger across his parted lips as though recalling something. “Oh, and I nearly forgot. They crave flesh so dearly. They’re horribly ravenous.” 

“Sounds familiar,” Tony said dully. 

Loki glanced up at him, glaring just perceptibly. “Does it?” He flexed his arms indifferently. “Do be a dear and don’t scream too terribly, would you? I’d rather not have that racket in my ears.” 

“I’ll try not to interrupt your swim with my screams of terror,” Tony said. 

“Wonderful,” Loki said, dipping his toes in the water. They cast a long, slow ripple across the surface that doubled back on itself quickly. “I hate to think of what I’ll have to tell your dear friends. The great Iron Man succumbed to a pack of beasts because he was terrified of a little pool of water. Tragic.” 

“Heart-breaking,” Tony said. He let his eyes trail down Loki’s back, along every vertebrae peeking up against alabaster skin, torn between the desire to win their spat and prolong it so as to continue staring. “Maybe you should think of a better headline, though. That one’s kind of clunky. How about something like Handsome Billionaire Perishes During Intergalactic Expedition. Universe Mourns.” 

“How dull,” Loki said dismissively. He faltered at the water’s edge. He could drag Tony in forcibly, and he was strongly considering it. Or, he could lure Tony in. That had its own satisfaction. He enjoyed knowing that he could entice Tony to follow his desires.

A tiny bead of sweat slid down Tony’s face. He rushed to wipe it away. His hot blood was slipping down along his veins, demanding his attention as it sank down, and Tony…Tony wasn’t about to give in and that pool was not any less threatening with Loki walking around its shore. 

Loki listened sharply to the sounds around him. Water falling, Tony breathing, but not caving in. With resignation he turned his attention on the pool. He bent over slowly, stretching down, listening with cruel satisfaction as Tony’s breath hitched, and then he dove into the pool with graceful arms. 

“Bastard,” Tony muttered, water splashing against him. He tore his shirt away, dropping the soaking wet mess onto the floor. A minute went by, and Loki did not surface. 

There was zero worry in Tony’s mind. He watched the surface coldly, racing through an imaginary argument with the god. He’d win their next set for sure.

Loki waited beneath the surface, impatience gnawing at his reserve. When he finally did return, he did not come up past his nose. Tony pretended not to see him. Loki waded forward, his pale arms pushing the water back from him. “Stark,” he said, coming up a little further. 

“Careful,” Tony said. “You’ll sprout a tail, Ariel.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, unimpressed with Tony’s meaningless references. “Do come here.” 

“No.” 

Loki came to the edge of the pool. He propped his arms up against the stony edge. “Are you going to sing me a song now, siren?” Tony asked. Loki grinned, his sharp teeth flashing in the hazy illumination of the cave. 

“Oh yes,” he said. “But you’ll need to be closer to hear it.”

Tony scooted exactly one-inch closer. 

“I won’t pull you in, I promise,” Loki said, holding his hands innocently in the air.

“Yeah, that means a lot coming from you,” Tony said. 

Loki’s impatience began to win. He decided to cheat. With a curl of his finger he magically dragged Tony to the water’s edge, rocks tumbling beneath the man as he skidded forward. “That’s better,” Loki said, taking Tony’s jaw in his hand. 

“You’d better have a damn good song,” Tony said. Loki’s cold, wet fingers trailed down his neck, sending chills down his spine. He tilted Tony’s head to the side. 

Slow drops of cold water from his hands trailed down Tony’s back as Loki’s hot mouth leaned up against his ear. “I shall have your obstinate mortal body begging for my direction,” Loki whispered, his words low and dark. “And when you are gasping for breath it will be only to the call of my name.” He tilted Tony’s head back to face his imperious eyes, a self-assured grin on his lips. “Come away to the water.”

Tony could hear his heart beat in his ears. He wanted to follow those dark eyes anywhere. It was unfair, how those eyes could peer down into him, making demands he wished to grant. His skin tingled, electric. Loki’s wet hair fell down along his face and drifted out along the water’s surface as he waited, watching with cat-like eyes. Tony closed his eyes, drawing in a long, cool breath. He decided that he wanted to follow Loki. He just had to overcome the unsettling fear the bottomless pool induced.

Loki watched the man’s eyes close slowly. His patience was frayed. Tony seemed to be debating internally, and he wasn’t opening his eyes. Loki leaned forward, swiftly slipping his arms beneath Tony’s, and as the man snapped back to reality his chest was pulled against the god’s and he was falling. 

The water was so much warmer than he’d anticipated. And brighter. It was…there were stars in it? Something luminescent. Not stars, but close enough. Tony was too momentarily charmed to realize what’d just happened. It was gorgeous. 

Then he felt the body holding him and his attention returned to the grinning face in front of him. Loki’s hair drifted out around him, beautifully haunting in the water’s suspension. 

Tony frowned at him with stubborn reprimand. He attempted to say something like “asshole” or “bastard” but his words floated up from him in bubbles. Loki laughed, the sound punctuating the water in little bursts before flying up towards the surface. 

Tony indignantly tried to struggle, flailing his arms. He shouted something else that was lost to the water, then quieted. Loki released him. It was occurring to him that he could still breathe. Loki grinned up beguilingly from the dark, beckoning Tony towards him. 

Tony swam to him, floating forward in the water. Loki’s vicious lips were at his instantly, toothy and possessive in the darkness. His hands curled up around Tony’s head, pulling him in tight, and Tony could not make sense of up or down in the dark water or anything past the sensation of his bottom lip sinking beneath pointed teeth. 

He felt greedy hands at his waist, tugging at his jeans gracelessly. Tony let out an awkward laugh as Loki sank in the water, one arm trailing down his chest to meet the other and Tony felt his clothes torn from him in the choppy, near weightlessness. In the back of his brain he knew he would not be getting them back. 

Then those mischievous fingers were trailing up along his thighs and he was floundering in the water, reaching out for Loki’s shoulders in the dim glow, and he was smiling in spite of himself, letting go in the chaos of disorientation. 

He closed his eyes, and those fingers were playfully drifting up the heavy, hard heat of his cock. He pushed forward, beginning them for more, and he swore he could hear laughter in the water. 

Loki laughed as Tony clawed through the water for him. His fingers tightened around Tony’s cock, roughly teasing him as the man arched forward. He knew from memory the desperate sounds Tony would be making, the wanting groans he would utter as he rolled his hips forward. He let go. 

Tony’s eyes opened in the water. He saw Loki drifting back from him. He grinned wickedly, kicking up towards the surface. 

Tony pushed forward and grabbed him, dragging Loki down into him. He bit down against Loki’s shoulder, sucking hard. The god’s gaze wavered, his eyes half open as a pleased smile crept across his lips. Tony’s nails were digging in along his back as his desperate mouth roamed mercilessly across his skin and he could feel Tony’s hard cock rock against him as he struggled to keep Loki with him in the water. Loki closed his eyes further as that pleased smile crept wider, showing a few teeth. 

Tony’s hand dropped down to his swollen cock and Loki gasped in the water, knowing that it was time to turn the tables. Tony was far from giving him the chance. His clever fingers stroked up the length of his cock as Tony’s sharp eyes met his, knowing and determined. He teased Loki, gently thumbing the head of his cock with a spark in his dilated, dark pupils. Tony was skillful and persistent. Loki kicked for the surface but that only brought friction, and as Tony pulled him back down in the water he moaned, leaning in conciliatorily with a whimpering need that the water mercifully concealed. His hands were back at Tony’s sides, the disorientation finally getting to him as his spine arched, him pressing his face to Tony’s chest with a broken moan as he spilled hot into Tony’s relentless hands until he was shaking, quivering and spent in the drift of water. 

Tony pushed Loki away, watching his dark hair drift around his face in the water. Something flickered through Loki’s eyes, something dark and questioning. Tony grinned at him, hot and wanting but still teasing like the cocky bastard he was, pushing back and away. Tony kicked towards the surface, leaving Loki weak and spent below him. With curiosity and more than a little frustration, Loki swam towards the surface. 

Tony’s arms were at him instantly, pulling him from the pool and dropping his heavy body against the rocky floor as Tony collapsed on top of him, his hard cock sliding against Loki’s wet thigh. “You’re a romantic bastard in a twisted sort of way, you know that?” Tony said breathlessly. Water dripped down from his face onto Loki’s as the god turned his head to the side, smiling dimly. 

“Shut up.” 

“But you are,” Tony said, still breathless. He slid down Loki’s wet chest as he sat up, running his hands down against Loki’s hipbones. Loki spread his legs without comment, grinning a little as Tony pushed his thumbs back and forth slowly against his jutting hipbones. “In a life or death sort of way,” Tony said spreading him wide, the head of his cock teasing the hot ring of muscle before Tony shoved in. Loki moaned hard, his hands seeking flesh. 

“Your life was hardly at stake,” Loki said as Tony thrust into him, his face flushed and inarticulate. It occurred to Loki to lecture Tony on how magic made that and this work, just to enjoy how it would irritate him right then. The stones pushed against Loki’s skin, but he couldn’t care. Tony’s loud, labored breath was punctuated with desperate moans and as his back began to bow forward Loki’s hand traced along Tony’s neck. “I said you would breathe only for my name,” he said. 

“Loki,” Tony’s voice came in a whisper, letting it turn to a chant as he thrust twice before filling the body beneath him with the thick heat of him. Loki was grinning up at him smugly with half-veiled eyes when Tony pulled away, still fighting to catch his breath. “I’m not doing that again,” Tony said, sitting his bare ass against the rocky floor. 

Loki grinned up at the ceiling, soaking wet and overly flushed. “Well maybe,” Tony conceded in a half whisper, glancing over at him. “Wipe that smug look off your face.” 

“Make me,” Loki said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely sure about this one, but here we are anyway.


	18. The Only Secret We'd Ever Care To Keep

Tony blinked up at the bathroom ceiling. This was not one of his worst jams, that was for sure, but fuck if it didn’t hurt like hell. 

He’d slunk down onto the cold tiles once his stomach had relieved itself of everything he’d consumed in the past day. At first he’d been grateful that Loki was gone. He didn’t want Loki watching him as he retched up a contorted mass of half-digested slop. Then, as he’d slumped down on the bathroom floor in a cold sweat, he began to wonder when Loki was coming back. 

His skin was clammy and he had an awful headache. He’d fumbled through the cabinets, but he couldn’t read the labels, let alone begin to guess what the contents were. He didn’t remember what realm they were house squatting in. They’d only been in the place a day. Jarvis would know, but currently Jarvis was contained by the tablet a few rooms over. Tony let out a loud sigh. At least the floor was cold. 

 

Loki pushed the house door open. Absently he thought that it was a little dark, but then again, Tony usually walled himself up in one room. He dropped a bag onto the kitchen table and bent down to pet Andor at his heels. 

He turned on lights as he walked through the rooms. Perhaps Tony had fallen asleep already. When Loki found the bedroom empty he began to worry. He tapped his fingers against the doorframe, frowning unpleasantly. 

He found Tony asleep on the bathroom floor. 

Tony awoke to the feeling of a hand at his forehead. “Keep it there,” Tony muttered, reaching up to press the cold palm to his clammy skin. “It feels nice.” He squinted, looking up to see Loki kneeling down beside him. He smiled somberly when Tony’s eyes met his. 

Loki said nothing as he turned his attention to Tony’s chest, curling magic down into his skin. It felt like a net of tiny hooks, scraping away at something. Tony grinned uncomfortably. He didn’t like the resigned expression on Loki’s face, covering the anxiety below. His slicked, choppy black hair was flung down over his shoulders, curled inconsistently. Tony watched as his dark eyes darted back and forth beneath tense eyebrows along Tony’s body, following his hands. He paused abruptly with a sharp exhalation. 

“That bad, huh?” Tony asked with a grin. 

“No,” Loki said dryly. “I’m only wondering how it is that you fall ill so easily.” He lifted Tony’s wrist up in his hands, examining the man’s fingers closely. Tony let him, if only to watch him with weary amusement. 

“Well, mortals. We don’t come with a warranty,” Tony joked. 

“So it would seem,” Loki replied, setting Tony’s arm back down. Tony closed his eyes as those long fingers rose to his temples, buzzing with something distinctly magical. He instantly felt better. 

Tony opened his eyes to see Loki watching him, his weary eyes set against his pale skin. He was sitting on his calves with his feet tucked beneath him. Tony reached over and rubbed one of Loki’s knees. “Thanks.” He grinned up at him from the floor.

Loki traced the angular jaw line of Tony’s face with his finger, saying nothing. He stood, rocking back on his black leather dress shoes as he did. Tony sat up quickly from the floor, scrambling to stand. He followed Loki into the kitchen. God, he felt a thousand times better. 

Loki opened the bag he’d brought, setting a few boxes on the table. Tony popped one of them open suspiciously. “You said you’d stop bringing back things with eyes or…heads,” Tony said, staring at the fish. Fish being the closest word for whatever the hell it was he was staring at. 

“That one is mine,” Loki said, sliding it away from him. “This one is yours.” 

“A burger and fries!” Tony said enthusiastically, failing to see Loki’s dramatic eye roll as he took the box, “where did you get this?” 

“You know better than to ask that,” Loki said, sitting down. 

“You didn’t enchant this to look like a quarter pounder when it’s really fish heads, did you?” Tony asked, skeptically holding up a fry. 

“No,” Loki said. 

Tony did not break eye contact with him as he took an aggressive bite of the fry. As he began to chew Loki smirked. “I swear to god,” Tony said, swallowing, “if this is a fish head---“

“It’s not,” Loki said, picking up his cutlery. 

“Then why are you smiling?” 

“Because if it were fish heads, and I will point out to you that what I am eating is not even remotely related to a fish, you would have no way of knowing. I am disappointed that I did not consider that possibility, but what you are eating is indeed that sloppy Midgardian fare you are so fond of.” 

The man took his own turn at an eye roll, letting out a loud sigh. Did the god always have to sound so horribly pretentious? 

Tony sat down in his chair as Loki cut a bite of his food, smiling to himself. “Okay,” Tony said, eating the rest of the fry, “do me a favor and if this is a box of fish heads and you’re lying to me, just don’t tell me.” 

“And where would the fun be in that?” 

Tony took a sloppy bite of his burger, chewing lazily just to grate on Loki’s nerves. He ignored the man, turning his attention back to his knife and fork. Andor rubbed up against the chair leg. Loki dropped a head onto the floor for him. 

“You’re going to make him fat,” Tony said. 

“Yours would make him fat,” Loki said. 

“He’s not getting any of this. I haven’t had real food in months.” 

Loki plucked a fry from the box, watching as Tony’s face fell from the corner of his eye with smug satisfaction. He dropped it onto the floor for the little ram. “Just one,” Tony said, dragging his box close to his chest. He watched Loki closely from above the lid. 

“Surely you know how to share?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, “just about as well as you.” Loki kicked him under the table. 

 

Tony woke up in the dark of the night. Quietly he made his way to the bathroom, and as the glaring lights flickered on he saw the pallor of his skin and knew. 

He turned on the faucet at full blast, splashing himself in the face. The cold water poured down his neck and drenched the cotton collar of his shirt. He leaned down over the sink. 

The handles squealed as Tony shut the water off. He took in a heavy breath. His skin was hot and clammy again. He thought to wake Loki, but with a hard wave of nausea, decided the bathroom floor was a better place to be. Lying down on his back, he promised himself that he would get Loki in a minute. Just as soon as this wave subsided. 

 

He rolled over, reaching out his arms beside him. They sought a body, sliding across the silky sheet, but felt nothing but air and the empty bed sheet. He awoke with a jolt. 

 

Tony woke to cold fingers at his temples again. “Hey,” he said hoarsely, smiling sleepily upwards. 

“It has scarcely been six hours since I found you this way before,” Loki replied. 

“I’m an overachiever,” Tony said. He closed his eyes as Loki’s fingers traced down his face again, pressing against his cheekbones. His head was spinning. 

“You should not have fallen ill,” Loki said. 

Tony couldn’t tell what the tone of voice was. Detached? Anxious? Judgmental? “I guess your mojo didn’t do its job,” Tony said. “Or it’s the fish heads.” 

Loki sighed loudly at the poor joke, pressing his hand to Tony’s chest. “We should leave here.” 

“I thought you wanted to go to that carnival of debauchery or whatever,” Tony said softly. Everything he said sounded like a scream in his ears. He tucked his arm across his stomach. 

“You’re too susceptible to this planet.” 

“That’s why I have you.” 

He didn’t hear or feel a reply so he opened his eyes. Loki was staring at his chest with a distracted glaze over his eyes. With another wave of nausea Tony wanted to pull his legs up into his chest and press himself flat against the floor at the same time. He reached over and grabbed Loki’s cold hand. He heard Loki pull in a sharp breath as Tony pressed those cold fingers to his warm forehead, closing his eyes again. 

“Stark?” Loki said in a quiet urgency. 

“Yeah?” Tony pressed Loki’s hand down harder. He felt Loki’s free hand press to his chest, sending out a slow wave of magic. It seeped down into him slowly, reminding him abstractly of the biting taste of licorice. 

“Why didn’t you wake me,” Loki said. It didn’t really sound like a question, and the reprimand in it was certainly clear. 

Tony pushed out a short breath. Couldn’t they save this argument until he was up to full speed? “I didn’t have time to.” 

“You have no idea what this could do to you. Your form is not equipped to handle this.” 

“Well that’s a little unfair,” Tony said. “I made it through my twenties, and my _form_ ,” he said, hitting the word so as to mock Loki’s use of it, “definitely wasn’t made to handle _that_.” 

“Stark, this is not a joke,” Loki said. His magic burned hot and Tony yelped, shuddering on the floor. 

“Well excuse me for not crying about it,” Tony snapped. His heart thumped a few beats faster. Loki pushed out a loud breath. 

“The least you could do is be responsible about it.” 

“And the least you could do is not be such a dick about it,” Tony grunted, trying to push himself off the floor. The hand at his forehead effortlessly pinned him back down. It felt like the magic in his body was spinning haphazardly through him, tumbling and pin balling off itself. He sucked a sharp breath through his teeth. “Loki that fucking hurts.” 

“That is because it is working,” Loki answered irritably. 

Tony let his head sink down against the floor. He was not surprised that the hand on his forehead went light, releasing its pressure. He reached up and pressed it back. When he said it hurt, he meant it. It was only pride keeping him from screaming. 

He released an embarrassingly contented sigh the moment Loki’s magic stopped. He felt Loki’s hand move to leave his forehead and pulled it back. “Stark I am still short with you,” he warned as Tony’s hand sought to pull him down. Tony’s soft eyes stared up at him from the floor, hiding something sharp. Tony frowned, holding his gaze steady on the being above him. Loki looked exhausted, and worse than the usual sort of tiredness. 

Tony decided to sit up, refusing to release his grip on Loki’s wrist. It mildly surprised him that Loki allowed that. 

“Don’t be irked at me about something I have zero control over,” Tony said. 

Loki leaned back against the bathroom cabinet. The wood popped with a shallow smack as his weight snapped the cabinet door completely closed. He pulled his legs up in front of him, propping one against the wall before him. He shook the wrist Tony was holding steadfastly onto. “If you mean to trap me that will not work in your favor.” 

“Right,” Tony said. “I mean to trap you,” he said sarcastically. He leaned back on the wall beside Loki’s bare foot, staring at him. Loki kept his attention elsewhere, giving Tony a view only of his profile. To bed he'd worn a loose gray v-neck t-shirt that dipped generously down his chest and a pair of pajama bottoms he'd stolen from Tony.

“What,” Loki said in a half-whisper, making no effort to conceal his exhaustion. 

“First of all, thank you,” Tony said. He said it bluntly, using it to make a point. Loki half-grinned as if it were a quaint gesture to make. “Second,” Tony continued, “I was going to come get you so save the lecture.” 

“It was not a lecture, you prat,” Loki snapped, finally yanking his hand away. He haughtily rubbed at his wrist, as if somehow it were actually possible for Tony to do harm to it. 

“Yeah?” Tony challenged him, propping his foot up beside Loki on the painted cabinet. Loki glanced over at his foot at then back at him, calculating. “What was it then?” 

“Advice.” Loki bit down on his lips, glaring as he considered that. “Common sense.” 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said dismissively. They fell silent for a moment. Tony stared contemplatively at Loki while the god feigned interest in the flickering light above them. “You look like shit.” He said it in a matter-of-fact sort of way, tempering it with a familiar sort of softness. It said volumes that Loki only glanced up at him with an acknowledging half-grin, exhaling in a short huff. 

Tony stared at the dark circles beneath Loki’s eyes as the god glanced back up at the ceiling, watching the light again. Tony knitted his fingers together in his lap, kneading his thumbs against his palms. Just in time to see Tony crack a wry grin, Loki looked over at him. “When did we get so domestic,” he said, rubbing one of his knuckles. 

“I hardly call fixing your sorry form domestic,” Loki said with a half-hearted hiss. 

Tony tilted his head up with a deadpan stare. Loki met his eyes and then glanced away awkwardly. “Perhaps I should remi---”

“Save it,” Tony said. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. “It doesn’t match my reputation either.” He pulled in a deep breath. “We’ll just keep it a secret, alright?” He smiled wryly. 

Loki ran his fingers through his hair, combing his long locks back from his face. He let his foot slide down from the wall and rest on the tiled floor. He thought to glamour the exhaustion away but lost interest a moment later. Tony wouldn’t be fooled and he didn’t actually mind. Not when it was just them. The light flickered, intermittently popping. He rubbed his face. Maybe he should mind. Maybe he was supposed to mind. He opened his eyes when he felt Tony’s hand on his calf. 

“Let’s get up. I don’t want to wake up on this floor for the third time today,” Tony said. 

No sooner had the words left his lips than the light above them gave out. The room went pitch black. He heard Loki sigh and the cabinet door creak ajar again as Loki stood up. Tony fumbled to stand, bumping into Loki’s back. He felt Loki’s arm quietly come back around him, tender for a moment before he shoved Tony in the direction of the door. “You could just enchant the light back on,” Tony pointed out. 

“I’m tired,” Loki said, pressing his hand into the small of Tony’s back. The man’s spine curved reflexively before he was groping forward in the darkness, praying that he didn’t knock into something. 

“I saw that, Sleeping Beauty.” 

“Stark.” 

“Yes, your highness?” That earned him a shove forward. He made contact with the mattress, falling forward. Tony pulled himself over into his spot faster than Loki could lie back down in the bed. He said nothing when those tired arms curled in around him. Instead he contentedly closed his eyes and wondered, as he drifted asleep, if the lips he felt briefly pressed to his neck were in his mind or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...feel free to prompt me. As always, thank you for reading.


	19. Holiday Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad I was able to get this finished now. I wanted to write something warm as a thanks to all of you following along and subscribing this year. A special thanks to you commenters! I appreciate all of you. If you’re soon to be enjoying time off for holidays I wish you all the best! Happy New Year!

Tony turned his head from the stove as he heard heavy feet shuffling sleepily into the kitchen. He looked up to see Loki rubbing at his eyes. His hair was a bed headed mess, and he was wearing one of Tony’s weathered cotton t-shirts. 

One of Tony’s _stolen_ t-shirts. Tony’d rolled over in the night, the light of his arc reactor falling onto Loki’s chest. In the bright blue he’d recognized not just one of his shirts, but his _favorite_ shirt. He made a sound between a hiss and a gasp. Loki woke up from a shallow sleep to stare at him with indolent, half-open eyes. 

“Quit stealing my shit,” Tony whispered indignantly, sitting up in the bed. He wasn’t sure why he was whispering. “Give it back, you’re going to stretch out the seams **again**.” 

“No,” Loki said with a lazy grin. 

Tony’s cold fingers shot up under the shirt, causing Loki to arch his back away from chilly hands as they ran along his ribs. Tony tumbled over on top of him, bent on taking back the shirt. “You can’t just raid my shit whenever you want,” Tony said. “This shirt is from their last tour ever.” Loki’s hands caught his waist. “You don’t even know the band,” Tony whined. 

He fell back into a mattress that bounced at his weight. Loki had pinned him down without much effort. He leaned over Tony’s face, grinning as a lock of hair fell against it. “I was cold and I will do whatever I damn well please.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re stretching the seams.” 

Loki shrugged. 

Tony struggled underneath him, hopelessly shoving back at the dead weight over him. Loki could never be moved unless he wanted to be. “What is it about my stuff, huh? Is it because I make it look so good, or because you just really have a thing for stealing shit?” Loki tilted his head, pretending to consider the question. Tony sighed dramatically. “That shirt’s a collectible.” 

Loki lowered his head onto Tony’s stubborn chest, closing his eyes. “Are…are you going to sleep? You are, aren’t you? Get up!” 

Loki grinned as Tony’s palms pushed up against his shoulders. “If you hadn’t done your whole ‘Asgardians are three times denser than Midgardian mortals thing,” Tony said, imitating Loki’s accent, “I’d say you swallowed a brick wall.” 

Tony stared wide-eyed and annoyed at Loki’s face as he pretended to sleep. Then a thought sparked. 

Loki felt Tony’s fingers pinch his nose closed. Tony felt a hand at his forehead in reciprocation, pushing him back as Loki pulled away. He sat up, staring down at the mortal. “What would you like for it?” 

“It’s not for sale,” Tony said. 

“We shall see about that,” Loki said, sliding off him and rolling over onto the bed. He turned onto his side, ignoring Tony. 

“It’s not for sale,” Tony insisted. “You can’t just go to sleep.” Loki rolled onto his back, staring deadpan at Tony. There was amusement tucked back somewhere in his face. “I’d steal your shit if it didn’t make me feel like a hair metal reject.” 

“You’d get the reference if you knew anything about bands,” Tony said for clarification. 

“Tony Stark,” Loki said, “passing up the opportunity to have my indebtedness to him. And here I thought you were a genius.” Tony opened his mouth and then closed it, glaring at him. 

“I will remember you saying that,” Tony said. 

“I’m sure you will,” Loki said, closing his eyes and rolling over. 

Tony fell asleep to the lullaby of scenarios he could pull Loki into. Seeing that he owed him and all. 

 

Tony turned back to the stove, concealing a pleased smile. He hadn’t decided what he’d charge Loki for stealing his shirt, but he liked the idea. A chair scraped against the floor as Loki groggily sunk down into it. 

He was watching Tony with suspicious curiosity. The man was up early. Too early. And he was fussing at the stove (dangerous) and making something that smelled spicy and sweet (agreeable) with a contented sort of happiness (he would hold off making a judgment on that for now).

Loki glanced around the rustic kitchen. Tony had made him transport them to eleven places before deciding on this one. It was a small, dated cottage with basic amenities and far too many patterned fabrics. The walls varied between brick and bark covered logs. The tiny oil paintings of other cottages and woodland scenes in their gaudy gold frames were particularly offensive to Loki’s taste. 

It was the closest place that Loki could find to match the wrinkled, hastily clipped magazine picture that Tony held up to him. He had snatched it from the man’s fingers, staring disdainfully. “It’ll be fun,” Tony told him. 

“Your idea of fun is questionable,” Loki had said. He gave in anyway, because Tony had a bright-eyed, childish enthusiasm about the whole ordeal and Loki knew if he asked Tony about it the answer would be something like Tony was trying to live out some childhood ideal. He wasn’t wrong. 

Tony set a hot mug in front of him. There was a cinnamon stick resting against the brim. “It’s apple cider,” Tony said. Loki took a sip. It was spicy and sweet with--- “with some rum,” Tony said. “Okay, a lot of rum.” Loki half smiled with closed lips, glancing up at Tony. Something floated past the window, catching his eye. 

“Snow,” he said. Thick, feathery flurries began falling heavily outside the windowpane. Tony turned around. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Nice, huh?” 

Loki made a sound of agreement, but it was really more that he was suddenly appreciating the red apron that Tony had tied around himself. Tony rubbed his hands together briskly. “It’s nice,” Tony said again, lost in a pleasant thought. 

A metallic buzz sounded as the oven went off. Tony put on an oven mitt and leaned down, pulling out a tray of cinnamon buns. The one he brought over to Loki was swimming in icing, a marble of gooey dough and sugar. Loki magicked away the burnt bottom. Subtly, he hoped. “Our cook used to make these when I had a snow day,” Tony said. 

Loki nodded, taking a heavy swig of the apple cider. Tony took a bite of his own cinnamon bun, apparently immune to any burnt bits. He had a sort of softness to him as he hunkered over the table, slowly cutting into his doughy cinnamon bun with a silver fork. Loki noticed that there were grooves in Tony’s flippant hair where he’d run a brush through it, taking his time. They fell into a comfortable silence, Loki studying him with his cider held in hand as Tony ate.

Tony wordlessly took the mug from Loki’s hands when he’d finished eating. He refilled it before returning it to Loki’s open hands. The plates clattered together as Tony gathered them up and set them down in the sink. Loki watched Tony’s arms as he washed the plates. He knew all the scars, the familiar dips of muscle braided into flesh. Tony untied the skinny red string at his back when he’d finished, tossing the apron onto the counter. “Had enough wake up time, Sleeping Beauty?” He turned around. 

“That depends on what waking up entails,” Loki said hopefully. 

“Unless you’re planning on it entailing you in a lumberjack getup to play into my whole rustic cabin escape plan, I’m holding out on the details,” Tony said. Loki rose up from the table to get dressed with a little eye roll. Once Tony had shown him what a lumberjack was, the answer had been a blunt no. Absolutely not. That much flannel was not coming anywhere near him. “And work your mojo on those seams when you take that off,” Tony called out to him. Loki grinned. Tony heard the shower turn on a few minutes later. 

He started a fire in the fireplace. After a while, when the logs crackled to life with bright flames, Tony leaned his back against the old sofa. He sat on the floor, poking at a log intermittently and looking out the windows at the falling snow. 

His father had always promised him a trip up to the mountains when he was a kid. He’d even packed his bags one time, loading his suitcase with action figures and toys. His father always promised, and the day of, something would happen, canceling the trip. Now that he was an adult, Tony knew that the trip had never been in the plans to begin with. 

Now that he was an adult, he could plan his own trips.

Loki walked into the room, towel drying his hair. He sat down on the couch behind Tony. After a moment Tony felt fingers in his hair, massaging back and forth. He made a pleasant hum, closing his eyes. Loki’s hands wandered down his neck and then to his shoulders. Tony smiled. Skillful fingers unwound tight muscles, untying knots that Tony had been completely unaware of. 

By the time those fingers lifted away Loki’s hair had dried into wavy curls from the heat of the fire. 

“That wasn’t on the list,” Tony said, “but I’ll let it slide.” 

“Perhaps you could think of it as payment for stealing your shirt.” 

“Not a chance.” 

Loki grinned, leaning back into the couch. “And what is next on this list?” Tony turned back over his shoulder. 

“There’s something I’ve been working on that I want you to try.” 

Ten minutes later Loki was standing in the middle of the kitchen with a silver circlet on either wrist. “I must say,” Loki said, rattling one curiously against his wrist, “this is not what I had in mind.” 

“You’re with an inventor babe,” Tony said, his voice trailing off as he adjusted one band of folded metal in the circlet. “Cast your magic through that.” 

Loki frowned for a second. “Magic is not all the same,” he said, his voice taking on an academic tone. “There are levels.” 

“Just try something,” Tony said, his eye on the circlet. 

“Fine,” Loki said. The circlet on his left wrist lit green. Light spun around inside the circlet, filling each of the interlocking bends of metal, before projecting a map of constellations. Tony let out a triumphant cheer. 

“Thought so,” he said. 

“What did you do?” Loki asked, intensifying the magic running through the circlet. 

“It treats your magic as a current,” Tony said. “Now try the one on the right.” 

Loki turned to see a map of New York. Tony walked over and placed his finger in the air, attempting to touch one of the landmarks. It did not respond, as he had hoped. “Well,” he said. “It’s a prototype.” He attempted to interact with the map again, but it was nothing other than a projection. 

“May I stop now,” Loki said. Tony nodded. Loki stayed very still as Tony removed the circlets, inspecting them. One of the grooves had warped under the strain. 

“They’ll need to be made from another material,” Tony said thoughtfully. “What spell did you cast on the left one?” 

Loki smirked. “You do not wish to know.” 

“A deadly one then,” Tony said dully. “No wonder it warped.” He began fidgeting with the circlet, examining something. “Here, try this one again,” he said, handing Loki the undamaged one. “Use a weak spell. Something that creates puppies or whatever.” 

Loki scoffed but did it anyway. The map looked the same as before. “Huh,” Tony said, looking up from the warped bracelet. “Try something marginally stronger.” 

Loki knew that look. It was a look that said they’d be spending hours as Tony tinkered with his designs, testing them for faults. He was willing to indulge Tony. The cottage was warm and comfortable, and he didn’t mind the opportunity to openly observe Tony while the man got lost in his own mind. 

Tony looked up from the circlet three hours later. By then only two of the interlocking rings were remaining on the right one, and the other was completely useless. Tony glanced out the window. It was still snowing. 

“If we keep with this we won’t be able to complete the list,” Tony said, setting the circlet down. Loki bit back a sarcastic comment. “Get some boots on reindeer games, we’re going outside.” Tony walked over to the closet, taking out his coat. 

Loki stared at the window with dread. “Come on,” Tony said, walking up to Loki and draping his hounds tooth scarf around him. 

“Where did you get this?” Loki asked, picking up the end incredulously. 

“You’re not going to believe this,” Tony said, wrapping his own scarf around his neck, “but you’re not the best at cleaning up after yourself.” Loki glared at him. Tony smirked, turning towards the door. 

“Is this not the same as taking your shirt?” Loki asked, catching up behind him. He materialized a heavy wool coat around himself. 

“I didn’t wear it,” Tony said, pulling open the outside door, “I just kept it for this.” 

“Why?” Loki asked suspiciously. 

“It looks okay on you,” Tony said. 

“Okay?” Loki challenged him, following Tony out into the snow. The wind was biting cold as it blew against his exposed skin. 

“Alright,” Tony said. “Marginally better than okay.” 

Loki was right at his side, following him to the shed in the backyard. “Your attempts at flattery are disappointing,” Loki said. 

“Just watching out for your ego,” Tony said. 

“Could you not just admit that you lust for this scarf?” Loki asked, brushing his lips against Tony’s ear. Snowflakes were melting down both of their faces. Tony laughed. 

“I don’t know if I _lust_ for it Loki,” Tony said. He laughed again as he pulled open the shed door. 

Inside there was a long wooden sleigh. Tony leaned in and hoisted it out from behind shovels and rakes and an assortment of old gardening tools. “You cannot be serious,” Loki said as Tony dropped it down on the fresh snow. 

“What,” Tony said, kicking the sled forward with his foot. It glided along the sheet of white, stopping just an arm’s throw away from the hill at the edge of the yard. “Never been sledding before?” 

“You are a grown man,” Loki said. 

“Come on, god of mischief,” Tony said, wrapping his arm back around Loki’s waist. Loki glanced down at the sled. He was being so good to Tony today. Tony tugged him along, and they fumbled through the thick snow together. “Sit in the front,” Tony said. 

Loki sighed as Tony’s arms wrapped around him. It was a massive hill just beyond them, leading down into a valley surrounded by snow-covered trees. He heard Tony’s voice at his ear. “Keep your hands and feet inside at all times.” 

Tony’s hand glided over the soft white snow. He could feel the grin on his face. Alright, so it was the same model sled as he’d begged his father to buy him, the same one that sat unused in the garage for twenty years, but no one needed to know. He pushed off, snow giving out beneath him. 

He let out a loud shout as they rocketed down the hill, Loki leaning back stiffly into his arms. The sled came to a slow halt at the bottom. Tony stood up, grabbing the rope. He took a few steps up the hill before he realized that Loki wasn’t following him. He stopped, his boots sinking down into the snow. 

“Stark, you can’t possibly be entertained by the idea of climbing that,” Loki said, staring cheerlessly at the huge hill. Tony glanced back at it. 

“Come on,” Tony said. Loki took a step forward, reaching his hand for Tony’s shoulder. 

They were back at the top of the hill.

“I like your way better,” Tony said. Loki nodded. He sat down on the front of the sled again, and though Tony could not help but feel that he was being indulged, he took it. By the third time down he felt Loki relax, and when Loki’s laugh broke out on the fifth time they shot down the hill, well, that alone was worth the entire ordeal to Tony. He laughed, pulling Loki tightly to him as they slid to the bottom. 

They were both red faced and soaking wet with melted snow by the time they agreed to return inside.

Tony stoked the fire, hanging his wet scarf down from the mantle. He heard Loki walk up behind him. Suddenly the fire was roaring. Loki hung his things from the mantle as well. 

He sat down in front of the flames, letting his hair dry curly for the second time that day. Tony walked to the kitchen and came back with two glasses of red wine. Loki took one from his cold fingers. 

Tony sat down next to him. “Not bad for a day, huh?” 

“It was _okay_ ,” Loki said. 

“Like your scarf,” Tony said. 

“Like my scarf,” Loki said. He took a long sip of his wine. The sun was fading outside and casting long shadows inside the cabin. Their conversation dwindled into thoughtful silence as the room grew dark. The fire kept the room illuminated while Loki and Tony sat together, drinking wine. 

Tony’s gray sweater had binary code knitted into its pattern. He’d hopefully left out a sweater of his for Loki that morning. He was contented to see that Loki had decided to wear it. He’d swapped the red out for tan and green, but it was still Tony’s sweater. 

Tony went into the kitchen and brought back a few bottles. He added another log to the fire and sat back down. The hungry flames swallowed the birch wood, its bark curling into ribbons of ash. Tony settled as he watched the fire. 

“I thought about how you can pay me back,” Tony said. 

“Oh?” Loki asked. He poured himself another glass of wine. “Do share.” 

“Remember months ago when you said you’d conquer a galaxy for me?” Tony kept his eyes on the fire, waiting for Loki’s reply. The god set his glass down on the floor beside him. 

“You think my conquering a galaxy is fair reparation for stealing your Midgardian garb?” Loki asked. 

“First of all, don’t say garb like it’s another word for trash,” Tony said. “And no. I don’t need you to conquer galaxies for me. I’d just---“ he took in a breath. “I’d like to hear you say it again.” Tony looked down. He brushed his fingers across the gray toe of his knitted snowflake socks. 

Loki picked up his glass. The light flickered in the red liquid as he tilted it around slowly. “That’s what I want,” Tony said. 

“You’re okay,” Loki said, taking a sip. Tony shoved his arm, lightly enough not to spill his wine but hard enough to make a point. He saw that Loki was keeping his eyes trained on the fire and his eyebrow was doing that twitching thing it did when he was really thinking about something. 

Loki was imagining how Tony would act if the tables were turned. Loki didn’t outright ask for explicit declarations that Tony cared for him. He knew Tony did, and asking made him feel needy and vulnerable. Tony usually followed suit, so Loki was a little uncertain of how to handle him now. If the tables were turned, Tony would probably make a huge declaration of it. He’d get outlandish gifts that were remarkable only in their size, or declare it publically to make a point of it. Maybe confetti or light shows would be involved. Loki sighed. 

He set his glass down on the rug, running his finger along its slender brim. He grinned, faintly. It was a _wonderful_ price for the shirt. He had to give Tony credit for his entrepreneurialism. 

“I like the cowlick in your hair. It’s as stubborn as you are,” Loki said. He slid his glass over towards the fire. Turning towards Tony, he leaned his weight onto one arm, resting his chin by his shoulder. Tony watched him silently, leaning over the wine glass that he held in both hands. Loki licked his lip. “I like the way you light up when you’re working on something.” The log on the fire popped, crackling as new flames burst up. This was hard. Not because it was untrue, but it was hard for him to say aloud. 

Tony scratched at his sweater. He grinned. “Just say you like me,” he said. “Just say you really fucking like me.” 

“I do,” Loki said. He could feel his heat in his cheeks. He blamed it on the fire and the wine. 

“No, say, ‘I really fucking like you,” Tony said. He grinned, scooting closer. He had that playful, cocky grin of his. Damn it. 

Loki grinned with a hint of chagrin. He blinked slowly, once. He could make this suit him. “Okay,” he said. His voice lilted down low. “I really fucking like you,” he said. He whispered the words in an imperious way that he knew would worm its way into Tony. 

A delighted heat curled up in Tony’s chest. “Say it again,” Tony said. He wanted to sear the memory of Loki whispering ‘fucking’ in that hopelessly civilized idiolect of his into his brain. 

“I _really_ fucking like you,” Loki said. Tony grinned. He would push his luck to the max on this one. This was _delightful_. 

“Again,” Tony said in a demanding whisper. 

“I really fucking like you Tony Stark,” Loki said slowly, leaning in closer to him and sliding his long fingers over Tony’s. “And I would conquer a thousand realms in a single night for your snarky ass." He grinned darkly. "My impudent mortal.” Tony smiled brazenly, pleased. They both heard how fond ‘mortal’ sounded. He rubbed his finger across the top of Tony’s. “Will that do?” He asked in a low whisper. 

Tony’s lips leaned in to meet his in answer. He tasted of red wine and cinnamon. Loki moaned as Tony’s fingers pushed his hair back behind his ear, tilting his head. “We’ll call it even,” Tony said, pulling back. He turned and leaned against Loki’s chest, pulling the god’s arms over him. 

Loki rested his chin against Tony as they returned to watching the fire. Tony took a sip of his wine, smiling contentedly. 

The warm flames crackled and snapped in a light, comforting rumble. Loki shifted, tucking his legs around Tony. Occasionally he reached for his glass, but his arms would always return to wrap around Tony. The man wordlessly refilled Loki's glass whenever it was empty, until they were both comfortably blushed from the wine and fire. Neither stirred, both unwilling to part from their contentment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Loki took a page from Odin's A+ parenting with his fake sleeping. Shh, don't tell him.


	20. Jealous? I don't know the meaning of the word.

“Look at the way it’s been geared to do this,” Tony said excitedly, pointing out some minute detail for the fiftieth time. 

“Mhmm,” Loki said, strolling away with his hands behind his back as Tony leaned in closer to the artifact. There were a thousand “do not touch” signs in the museum that Tony could not read, but Loki felt entirely safe assuming that Tony knew better anyway. 

“And look at—” His voice droned into a dull hum in Loki’s ears. He’d brought the mortal here as a present, seeing that Tony had been somewhat bored lately. Loki wandered away to appreciate some of the drawings on the walls. Tony didn’t seem to mind. His voice carried on even as Loki approached the far end of the gallery. 

Loki’s attention may not have been on him, but his voice had captured the interest of a curator. Tony tensed nervously at first, uncertain of the alien that approached him. “What an interesting dialect,” the alien said in a voice of indistinguishable gender. The curator was draped in a long blue robe that covered most of their scaly purple skin. “Earth, I believe?” 

“Yes,” Tony said enthusiastically, intrigue taking hold of him. 

“I’ve never met one of you in person,” the curator said. “How do you find yourself out here?” Large, curious blue eyes blinked as they memorized every detail of the man. 

“That’s my ride over there,” Tony said, gesturing with a grin towards Loki. The god’s back was to them, dwarfed by a large canvas. The curator glanced up, but it was clear that they had no interest in the Asgardian. 

“What were you saying about the gear work?” The curator asked, stretching a curled digit to indicate a mechanism. “How does it compare to Earth’s technology?” 

“Well,” Tony began, and he was off. Between him and the curator rallying questions back and forth, the quiet gallery became an echo chamber. Loki turned around, one eyebrow twitching irritably. 

Tony was laughing, and talking exuberantly about whatever nonsense it was and the curator could not get enough of him. 

Loki stilled, his fists bunching at his sides as he took in a breath through his nose. Then, calmly, collectedly, he walked towards the center of the gallery, irritation growing with every step. 

“Tony,” he said, setting his hand on the man’s shoulder. He leaned down, glaring pointedly at the curator from across Tony. “We should be going. There are places yet to see.”

“We don’t have to get to them all today,” Tony said, annoyed that his conversation with the curator had been interrupted. He’d learned enough in the past five minutes to advance Stark Industries by years. Loki sighed loud enough just for Tony to hear, his warm breath drifting against the man’s neck. 

“Things to do,” Loki said, sliding his hand along Tony’s shoulder. The man rolled his shoulder, stepping away. 

Glaring, Loki leaned back. He walked around behind the curator, just in Tony’s view. Tony stared flatly at him before picking back up the discussion with the curator. 

He could see Loki out the corner of his eye, pouting imperiously in a haughty strut, casting dark looks in Tony’s direction. Let him. Loki hadn’t had anything to say about the gallery until now. 

The leather sculpted around his shoulders rocked in an angry line as Loki shifted the weight back and forth on his feet, casting daggers from behind curtains of black hair as he didn’t get his way. Tony restrained an eye roll. 

The pouting only lasted so long. He strode up to the artifact then, suddenly interested. “You’ll see that it has an adaptive defense feature,” Loki said, like he was instantly knowledgeable. “And over here—”

“Actually,” the curator said, correcting him. “That feature has no function at all.” The curator only meant to be educative. Loki’s jaw set into a hard line. 

Tony spoke quietly to the side, knowing that look far too well. “Maybe you could go look at the next gallery? We’re boring you.” 

“Nonsense,” Loki said, leaning to snake his arm around Tony’s waist. “I’m absolutely riveted.” 

“You’re greener than usual,” Tony said between his teeth. “Nothing’s happening, go chill out.” Loki’s fingertips squeezed against his side as he debated letting go, his narrowed eyes trained on the man’s face. Tony seemed annoyed, which was fine, really, because this horrific creature was far too interested in him for Loki’s taste, but he knew that Tony face as well. It was the one that usually led to a voice that acted like it was in the moral high ground. 

“Fine,” Loki said. “Come find me when you’re finished.” 

His fingers dipped in against Tony’s spine before he sauntered away, just to stop a few paces forward in front of a painting. 

Tony took a deep breath. He returned to his conversation with the curator, keeping an eye on Loki the entire time. Loki could hear a strain in Tony’s voice, even as he excitedly rushed along. He wanted to keep that animated Tony voice to himself. That creature couldn’t possibly appreciate the mind of Tony Stark. 

The moment Tony parted from the curator Loki was at his side. “Finished?” Loki whispered down into his ear. 

Tony grabbed his hand, squeezing hard. He grinned as he shook his head. Even though he was annoyed, he liked it when Loki’s focus was just on him. It was so easy for the god to act like he was above things, so it was immensely satisfying when Loki got flustered by something. “Let’s go home,” Tony said. 

“Finally,” Loki said. 

He didn’t even let them walk out of the museum. Tony felt the crackle of magic resonating with the bracelet on his wrist, and then he was pinned against the front door, Loki’s lips at his neck. His eyes drifted across the luxurious common room of the villa they were crashing at, marked by an overturned chair and shattered vase as evidence of their escapade the night before. Tony moaned as that vicious little mouth bit at his shoulder. “Tell me how much you want it,” Tony said. 

Loki didn't even have the time to cast a nasty glare at Tony. “You obstinate, showy, stubborn mortal,” Loki growled, and Tony didn't know how Loki was pinning him to the door, just that he was everywhere, crawling down into every sense Tony had. “I will have you anyway I like.” 

“Oh?” Tony muttered. “And how’s that?” 

Loki’s tongue slid inside his mouth, domineering and unconsciously desperate. He didn’t let go until Tony was gasping for air, bucking against him. “I’ll have you screaming my name until it’s the only word that’s ever existed for you.” 

“I’d like to see you try,” Tony said. Clothes were gone, and when had that happened? His eyes squeezed shut for a heartbeat. He could feel magic sliding inside him, hot and slick. 

“There will be no _trying_ involved,” Loki said. Tony felt fingers dig into the soft inside of his knee, yanking his leg up around Loki’s waist. Things were moving and bending in ways they shouldn’t and there was too much Loki for Tony to give a damn about figuring out how it worked. “Now,” Loki announced. “Your voice.” 

Tony grinned, stubbornly refusing. They played this game all the time. Loki thrust him into the door, earning a stifled cry as he entered Tony. 

Tony’s teeth flashed in a headstrong smile as he was jostled against the door, provoking Loki into more and more desperate thrusts, his mouth a frenzy against Tony’s bare skin. Ribbons of pink flushed in the wake of sharp incisors as Tony moaned, refusing to speak. It was more fun to see how desperate Loki could get. 

Suddenly Loki stilled, pulling out slowly, drawing a needy whine from Tony. “Say it,” he whispered against Tony’s ear. Tony groaned, shaking his head. Loki pounded back into him, holding him steady against the door. Tony squirmed beneath him, gasping and shaking. “Say it.” 

His hands curled around Tony’s cock, thrusting as Tony broke into stifled moans. “Alright, fuck.” Tony hissed. Loki grinned against his neck. 

“Mmm, it seems you’re not ready,” Loki said coyly. He thrust Tony harder into the door, sweat dripping down the side of his face. 

“Okay, fuck!” Tony swore. He couldn’t remember what he’d been doing with his hands, or where any part of him was, except the places where Loki seared against him. Suddenly it was like he had hands again, shaking as they braced themselves against Loki’s shoulders. Loki thrust slowly, enticing him on. “Loki.” 

“Louder,” Loki muttered against his neck, his voice dripping with pleasure. 

Tony screamed his name, his chest arching against Loki as his back ground into the door. He came yelling, lips at his neck. Loki came with a satisfied groan, collapsing against him. 

When they finally peeled apart, Tony looked over to see a dent in the door. He watched it with a smirk as Loki pulled him back in towards him, his magic licking away aches and pains before they could begin. 

He left a proud pink trace of his teeth behind on Tony’s shoulder, grinning down at it as Tony gazed happily at the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *taps at the dysfunctional tag*


	21. I Wish You Would

Tony didn’t have proof, but he was a hundred percent certain that Loki timed Andor’s re-enchantments around the times that he didn’t get what he wanted. 

Like the last time Tony said no to a second pet, one that involved a lot of scales and teeth and general flesh eating. Or the time before that, when Tony made him brush his own hair because he was perfectly capable and Tony was in the middle of something. Or the time even before that, when Tony hadn’t laughed at his joke (Tony still wasn’t sure what the humor in it was, or why it was such a grave offense). 

This time, Tony was fairly certain that it was because Loki was sulking over Tony’s lack of enthusiasm at his suggestion. Tony sat a table. He pretended not be disturbed by Loki dragging a slab of meat through a pool of blood as he read his tablet. Loki’s fingers were slicked with crimson. It was all over Andor’s coat. 

Loki was making this horrible slopping sound with the bloody bowl. Tony tapped at the tablet a few times, gritting his teeth, before finally snapping. “Do you have to do that,” Tony sniped. 

Loki rose his eyebrows primly. “Do what,” he said, gingerly stroking Andor’s face. 

“That,” Tony said, cracking the word across his teeth. 

Loki looked innocently at the bowl. “Oh,” he said. “You mean prevent my dear pet from perishing? I do.” Tony let out a loud sigh. “He seems to be the only one capable of showing me any affection.” 

Tony licked his top lip with a nasty glare towards the ceiling. “Me not wanting to is not the same thing as not showing you any affection.” Tony could just feel his blood pressure rising. “And you can do that all day, it won’t make me change my mind. Go ahead and pout.” 

A screeching wail filled the room as a shadow peeled from the wall, circling Tony. “That won’t work either,” Tony said, tapping away at the tablet. Loki let the magic go with a spiteful flare of his nostrils. 

Suddenly he was standing beside Tony, his chest heaving up and down with tight little breaths. “Are you ashamed at the thought that it would share my blood?” 

Tony’s eyes widened. Tony knew what he was referring to, and the subject always made Tony deeply uneasy. Not because of what Loki was, but because Loki became erratic and volatile at its mention. There was nothing Tony could say and win. 

“No,” Tony said softly. He turned the chair delicately so that he was sitting just before Loki, eye level with his abdomen. Ever so carefully he reached out for the god’s hand. The blood dripped onto his own wrist. Tony held up the hand doubtfully. “Loki,” Tony said. His breathing hitched in his throat. “We’re not exactly parent material.” 

“Speak for yourself,” Loki snapped, tugging his hand back. 

Tony tilted his head up to see Loki’s gloomy, sullen face. “Loki,” Tony said. “We don’t stay in one place more than a week. We do whatever we want all the time. All of that would change. Besides, I’m getting too old to chase some brat around.” The sudden, harsh thumb brushing across his chin surprised Tony, making him flinch. 

“That is the problem,” Loki said in a dark whisper. “Would you deny me the joy of seeing your eyes mingled with my features? Would you?” 

A palpitation thudded in Tony’s chest. This idea had completely blindsided him. “Loki,” he said quietly. He looked into the god’s eyes and regretted it immediately, his heart breaking at the despairing need pooled there. Tony dropped his gaze to the floor. “Do you have to think about it right now?” 

“Yes,” Loki said. He sank down into the chair, straddling himself against Tony and forcing the man to hold him in place. The warm weight against his chest was crushing. Loki stared at Tony’s turned face, framed by graying hair. “Time passes so much faster than you think.” 

“I don’t know that a kid is the answer to that,” Tony said. 

Loki tilted Tony’s face in his hand, slicking the man’s cheek with red. His eyes were dark and willful. He couldn’t not think about it anymore. His thoughts were beyond obsessive. “Tony,” he said. “You are not something I wish to forget.” 

Tony swallowed with his tight throat. He couldn’t bring himself to look in Loki’s eyes. “Can’t we just spend the years as just us?” 

Loki cupped Tony’s face with one hand, but still the man would not look at him. “We can,” Loki said in a whisper. “And then _I_ must remember.” 

Mostly out of familiarity and habit, Tony had begun to relax with him so close. His grip around Loki’s back loosened to a comfortable tension. Loki brushed his thumb back and forth, then leaned down to whisper against the man’s ear. 

Loki had raised children before. He was not nearly as hapless as Stark made him out to be. 

“Anthony,” he whispered, and it was one of three times that he had used the name, “I wish for the universe to know our child.” His breath drifted down Tony’s neck, who shuddered. “I wish for that joy with you.” 

“Is it mating season?” Tony asked, laughing nervously. He rubbed at Loki’s back, chuckling. Loki went rigid. “Is this like pon farr or something and I didn’t get the memo?” 

Loki glared with a silent, caged fury that sent prickles down the back of Tony’s neck. He smiled harder, laughing just as shallowly. “Where’s this nesting instinct coming from? Did you find a copy of Pottery Barn lying around somewhere? Is there a weird pollen in the air around here?” 

Loki dropped his hands to Tony’s shoulders. If he even could obtain immortality for the man, and the thought was never far, he had come to realize that Tony’s answer would likely be no. Tony didn’t seem to have the endurance or the will, and Loki had never fully approached the topic out of fear that his assumption would be correct. So Loki had come to another plan, one where he was still Tony-less, but where in a way, the man lived on. 

It soothed him to think that there would be a child of theirs. He liked the idea of a family of his own making in which Stark was a part. The man’s laughter had filled him with a silent rage. Loki leaned his head over Tony’s shoulder, not trusting himself with staying calm. His anxiety over the man’s demise and his subsequent loneliness had mutated into a fearful possessiveness. 

Loki was entirely rigid in his arms. Tony hesitantly kneaded his calloused fingers against Loki’s back. The god did not seem to be breathing. Tony spoke in a low whisper. “It’s not something I’ve ever considered,” Tony said. “With anyone.” 

Tony took in slow breaths through his nose, pulling Loki a little closer. It was a while before he answered. “Could you?” Loki asked flatly. His head stayed over Tony’s shoulder. Tony’s face faltered. 

“I…” He sighed. “Can’t promise more than considering.” He closed his eyes. He knew that Loki thought about his mortality. Though it was never spoken, it was plain in the way he compulsively checked Tony’s health. The smallest cut never escaped his notice. Tony just hadn’t thought that it would lead in this direction.

It made sense, maybe. He supposed. He didn’t know. 

“But my answer doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you,” Tony said. “You don’t have to…make me jealous of Andor or something. It’s not that I…don’t care about you.” 

Loki relaxed a tiny fraction at that. He rested his chin against Tony’s shoulder. Tony shook against his chest in a small laugh. “I’ve done a lot of shit with you for a guy that doesn’t care.” 

Loki flicked the side of his head with his hand and then let the full weight of his head fall against Tony’s shoulder. “Are you…going to let me up anytime soon?” 

“No,” Loki said, letting his weight sink down against Tony like lead. 

Tony sighed. After a moment he leaned his head against Loki’s, staring at the room around them. He recognized none of the alien features, none of the furniture or fixtures. Just the bowl of bloody meat and newly enchanted Andor, purring in the middle of it.


	22. How Many Times Must I Tell You Not to Touch Things...

“You remember the rules,” Loki said delicately. Tony nodded his head like a child. His face was anything but innocent. Loki sighed. 

“No touching, got it,” Tony said. He took a step towards the room. Loki cut his arm between Tony and the door. 

“Do not engage with anything,” Loki instructed. Tony hated the way Loki stood up straight. It was so stiff and snotty. The long fur cape he wore only made it worse. Tony glared at the fluffy pelt around Loki’s shoulders. He hated the fucking thing. “Do not touch _anything_.” 

“Are you included in that?” 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “I will be if you touch anything else.” Tony pouted behind him as he tugged the door open. 

The sleek vault was crafted of ornate metal work. Shelves lined the walls. Tony took a step closer to the oddities. He glanced towards Loki. The god was quickly making his way towards a chest in the center of the room. Tony figured that he could decipher what three or four of the things on the shelves were before Loki checked on him. 

He started with the first thing he saw. It was cylindrical, with metal ovals stacking upwards. A multi cell linear accelerator component? Something else? 

He looked up to see that Loki was watching him over his shoulder. “No touching,” Tony said cheerfully. Loki made a skeptical sound in his throat and turned back around. Tony decided to move towards a shelf that was a little less in Loki’s line of vision. 

This shelf contained a series of glass bottles with various liquids. Tony’s eyes fell on one. 

It was emitting a magenta light. Tony looked for a light source, but found none. Was it some sort of bioluminescence? Curiosity snared Tony. He held his breath as he stole a glance at Loki. The god was rummaging through spell ingredients and muttering to himself. That was a good sign. 

Tony knew what he had promised, but it didn’t matter. Not when he was looking at the bottle. He wasn’t sure why, but _he had to open it_. 

He could get away with it. Loki was just overprotective. There was no need to heed his warning. Tony took once more glance at the god and bit down on his lip. He could get away with it. He had to open the bottle. He needed it. 

As quietly as he could, Tony twisted the cork. The light vanished. Tony stuck the cork back in immediately. He glanced over at Loki, his heart racing. All he saw was the scruff of fur adorning the cape. 

Confused, Tony returned his attention to the bottle. The light had not returned. He stepped away from the shelf and walked elsewhere, pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary. 

He wound up standing in front of the one shelf on the opposite side of the room, waiting for Loki to say that they could leave. Dread crept in on Tony as he became certain that he had fucked something up. He didn’t know what or how, but he knew that he didn’t want Loki to find out. 

Finally he heard Loki say, “It is time to depart.” He turned to see that fur cape whisking past him. “Stark,” Loki said. Tony hurried to catch up in the doorway. 

Loki grabbed his hand and instantly they were back in an old house. It was less glamorous than the places that Loki usually selected, but Loki had insisted that it was the only unoccupied location in proximity to the vault. 

Andor came running. He snapped at their heels and growled. Tony stood still, watching as Loki walked past. The cape pooled around his feet as he scooped Andor up. Loki tugged open a kitchen cabinet and tore open a box of cheese crackers for the ram to devour. He realized that Tony was still staring at him. 

“Are you consumed with lust or dumbstruck,” Loki said drably. He was paying more attention to Andor than Tony. 

“Aren’t I always?” Tony mumbled. He wandered into the living room and sat on the couch at an angle where he could watch Loki without it being obvious. 

Loki set Andor on the table with the cheese crackers. As the ram shredded the box he took off his cape and hung it over the back of the chair. Tony just stared. He wished that Andor would move out of the way. He couldn’t see as well. 

It was a while before he heard a kettle whistle and Loki dryly insist that he come drink something. 

Loki poured Tony a cup of black tea. He added sugar, knowing that Tony was less apt to complain then. When he turned he saw that Tony was sitting in the chair with his cape hung over the back. He found it a little odd, but brushed it off. He gave Tony his tea and sat down beside him. 

Tony seemed sinfully content. Loki didn’t think that he slipped anything into the man’s tea. He got up and checked the sugar container but it was just sugar. Tony’s happy babble did not cease, and after a while, Loki was going with it. Tony was making him laugh and charming him mercilessly. Loki was falling in love with him all over again. They stayed together at the table until the late evening. 

It was only when Loki suggested that they go to the bedroom that Tony’s mood dimmed. Loki caught the falter in Tony’s expression, but the man quickly covered it. He stood, grabbing the cape from the back of the chair. 

“Stark, that may stay in this room.” 

Tony shook his head. Then, clutching it a little tighter to his chest, he informed Loki that he wanted the god to wear it. “Just this morning you told me it made you feel like you were hanging out with Cruella De Vil,” Loki said. He had made Tony explain the reference and then listened to a solid fifteen minutes of snark that ended in Tony prancing around with an invisible cape to mock him. 

“I was wrong,” Tony said. 

That was not something that Loki heard from the man often. He stared critically at the man, considering. He decided that he didn’t care. Tony had been charming the shit out of him the entire evening and nothing was going to stop him from fucking Tony into the mattress. Tony had requested far stranger things, and Loki had decided that he didn’t need to understand everything that went on inside the mortal’s head. 

Tony’s enthusiasm was insatiable. They didn’t fall asleep until the early morning. 

It was not until Loki woke up and wandered into the kitchen that he realized something was wrong. 

Tony was sitting at the table with the cape around his shoulders, gently stroking the fur. Tony whispered soft, loving things to it. He didn’t hear Loki lean against the doorframe to watch him. 

It was only when Tony bent down and kissed the cape that Loki burst into laughter. Tony looked up startled. 

Loki laughed harder. He laughed harder and harder until tears were rolling down his face. Tony could only stare at him in bewilderment. As Loki tried to recover, clutching his sides, Tony returned to whispering endearments to the cape. 

Loki materialized clothes around both of them. He wiped a tear off his face and took a deep breath. “Stark,” he said. “Did I not tell you not to touch anything?”

Tony tugged the cape in around him, hiding his head beneath it. “I shall not let you live to forget this,” Loki said with a smirk. He walked to the chair and took one testing tug at the cape. Tony let out a scream. “How do you feel about this cape, Stark?” 

“I love it,” Tony declared loudly. 

“How much?” Loki tested him. 

“This cape,” Tony said, talking like he was drunk, “is the best thing that has ever been. It is beautiful. It is perfect. It is gorgeous.” 

“Uh-huh,” Loki said, hoping that Tony would continue. He was giggling, but Tony didn’t notice. 

“This is the best cape. The best! I love it. I love it,” he said. Tony closed his eyes as he set his head down against the fluff. “I wanna marry it. I wanna marry the shit out of it.” 

“Do you want to marry the shit out of me?” 

“If you wear the cape,” Tony answered just as dazed. “I’m gonna marry it. Do you think that’s legal? I’ll buy congress if it’s not.” 

Loki knew that he needed to negate the love spell before it got worse but he was enjoying this. “And what will you two do for your honeymoon?” 

“Go to Paris,” Tony said. “Everyone will be so jealous. You’re gonna be so jealous.” 

Loki rolled his eyes as he grinned, walking to the sink. Tony heard him making tea but didn’t think anything of it. As long as he had the cape life was perfect. 

Loki could do the counter spell in his sleep. It was simple compared to the love spell itself. It was not unusual for young magic wielders to use love spells against their peers for amusement. For that reason, it was one of the first things students were taught. 

Tony had planned an entire itinerary for Paris with the cape by the time Loki finished preparing the spell. He slipped it into the man’s tea and then walked to the table. Grabbing the back of Tony’s head, he unceremoniously tilted the man’s head back and forced him to drink. 

Tony spluttered and coughed all over his chest. “Lo—” He coughed. Tea splattered across the table. Loki could tell the moment it had worked by the mortified way Tony tensed. 

Loki stepped around the side of the table to see that Tony had turned dark red. The man jumped out of the chair and tossed the cape to the floor. “We’re gonna burn that,” Tony said. 

Loki vanished it away, saving it for another time. There was a shit-eating grin on his face. “I know,” Tony said. “You told me not to touch anything.” 

“It was in a weapons vault for a reason, Stark.” 

“You’re not going to let me live this down, are you?” Tony asked lifelessly. 

“Never,” Loki promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to arashkya for the love spell prompt! Thank you!


	23. Truth or Truth

“I have a surprise,” Tony announced, walking into the kitchen. The sunlight caught against his short hair as he grinned, dressed in casual, lazy Sunday attire. Loki looked up from his book on the table. Andor was sitting in his lap, purring. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. 

“Somebody’s going to love it,” Tony said melodically. Loki smirked. He loved how cheerful Tony was since they’d moved into this house. He hoped that the real owners never came back. 

Tony took his hand from behind his back. Andor squealed, jumping out of Loki’s lap and running across the table. He sniffed eagerly at the ram Tony set down. It had an Iron Man face plate resting between its ears, much like how Andor wore a miniaturized version of Loki’s horned helmet. 

Loki rose from the table and sauntered over to Tony’s side. He leaned against the man, smirking as Tony’s arm wrapped around his waist. “What’s this?” 

“This,” Tony said with pride, “is a friend for Andor.” The mechanical ram walked across the table, mewing. Andor plastered himself against the ram’s side, following wherever it went. 

“How does he work?” Loki asked, holding out on the affection swelling in his chest until his suspicion was eased. It was no secret that Tony and Andor had their differences. 

“It evaluates Andor’s preferences and behaviors. Then it mirrors them back so that they’re compatible,” Tony said. The two were going in circles around the table, Andor mewling loudly and then the mechanical ram doing the same. 

“And what is his name?” Loki asked, slipping his arm around Tony’s back as his suspicion eased. 

“I thought I’d let you have the honors,” Tony said. When Loki glanced at him he grinned. 

“Hmm,” Loki said as Tony pressed a kiss to his forehead. “He has your helmet.” Tony hummed in confirmation. “Brynjar, then.” Andor’s purring accented his words as the ram sat down, cozying up against the other ram. Loki grinned, pulling Tony into him. 

Tony liked the spark in Loki’s eye. He was obviously pleased as he circled his finger against Tony’s shirt, grinning. “I am happy to see you take an interest in Andor,” Loki said. 

“You know me,” Tony said. “Spreader of joy. I’m like Christmas over here.” 

“Mhmm,” Loki said. Tony pulled Loki in a little tighter, careful not to break the eye contact the god seemed so intent on having. This was working wonderfully, just as Tony had hoped. There was something Tony wanted to ask from Loki, and he wanted to ask it when Loki was in a good mood. 

Loki’s hand slid up the back of his neck, slowly pulling him in closer. Yet, just before their lips could meet, there was a loud crash in one of the adjacent rooms. Loki froze, absolutely rigid, listening intently. He let go of Tony, obviously about to cast a spell when a woman entered the room. 

She was tall and walked with a driven, authoritarian gait. Gray curls adorned her head, just above a pair of sharp brown eyes. Her aging skin suggested that she was elderly, but when she spoke it was with a sharp, mature voice. “What are you doing in my house?” 

Loki’s hand twitched, but the woman countered the spell without a single movement. Loki went for charm instead. “We were chasing after these two,” Loki said, smiling with a feigned forgetfulness that Tony would’ve laughed at had he not been weary of the old woman. Loki scooped up Andor and Brynjar, smiling innocently. 

“Right,” the woman said. “That is certainly what it looked like.” There was a wry sarcasm to her voice that hinted at a sense of humor, but she did not smile. 

“We’ll be departing,” Loki said. He shifted the rams into one arm and held his hand out for Tony to take, his eyes not leaving the woman. 

“No,” she said. Tony looked from her to Loki and back again, fear creeping in. He slipped his hand inside Loki’s, and the returning squeeze was like a vice. “I wouldn’t want to send you without a parting gift,” the woman said. 

“How about this,” she said. A purple orb appeared in her hands and floated upwards. “Perhaps it will teach you not to lie.” Tony heard Loki groan as he recognized the spell, and realized that something was holding them still. The purple orb morphed into a light that washed over them. The moment the hold on them was released Tony felt Loki’s magic sweep through them with bottled up force. 

They tumbled and hit grassy ground. Tony sat up, thinking the grass belonged to Earth, but then saw a wall and a purple sky and realized they were in a garden. He tugged on a blade of grass and realized, that while similar, it was not grass at all. Andor ran past him shrieking. He disappeared into a bush. Brynjar followed, mimicking him perfectly. Tony let out a loud sigh. “What was that?” 

“The witch or the spell?” Loki asked. He was holding his hand in front of his mouth as if he was about to vomit. 

“Both,” Tony said. He stood up, rubbing his lower back. 

“The witch was easily a thousand years older than me, thus why her magic won out. The spell…” Loki swallowed hard, struggling to choose his words. Tony had never seen words stall on his tongue so much. “You’ll figure out soon enough.” 

Tony’s face went dead pan. That was most definitely not a good sign. “Am I going to grow extra arms or die of some disgusting, cruelly ironic disease?” Tony started running through all of the horror films he’d seen in his life.

“No,” Loki said. The word hovered there. He took a cautious step towards the bushes and then called out to the rams. “It will wear off in a few hours,” Loki said. 

“What is it?” Tony asked. 

Loki couldn’t deflect the direct question. He held his tongue, but the words came out of their own accord. “A truth spell,” he heard himself say. 

“Seriously?” Tony asked. “Shit.” He thought about it for a moment. Then he got a devious smirk. “Hey, did you like the present I got you for New Year?”

  “It was horrid,” Loki said. He bit on his cheek and then decided to glare at Tony instead. “Do not take advantage of this, Stark.” 

“I want to ask another,” Tony said. It was clear from the giddy look on his face that it would be “another” until the spell ended. “What’s the dirtiest fantasy you’ve had but you’ve been too chicken to tell me about?” Tony stepped in closer, instantly losing all of the credit he’d saved up inventing Brynjar. Loki glared at him, clamping his hands to his mouth. His eyes were angry and vicious, but his skin was turning crimson. 

He muttered something against his hands, hiding the words from Tony. The only part the man caught was “you _idiot_.” Loki turned around so that his back was facing Tony. “I wish you wouldn’t ask again.” 

“And I really want to know,” Tony said. 

“And I don’t want to tell you,” Loki said, turning back around. The warning in his voice was clear. 

“Okay, okay,” Tony said, holding his hands up. He smiled appeasingly when Loki relaxed. “What if we trade? I’ll tell you one thing I’ve fantasized about and you tell me one. It’s a bargain for the truth.” 

“I’ll only agree so that I can hear yours and then avoid you until the spell wears off,” Loki said. He threw his hands up in the air, rolling his eyes. Damn the spell. 

Tony laughed. 

Loki decided instead that Tony needed a taste of his own medicine. He smiled, stepping towards Tony. Tony grinned, knowing exactly what was about to happen. “What’s one of your fantasies? Tell me.” Loki said. 

“I’ve told you nearly all of them,” Tony said, grinning. “I’m not weird about it, like you.” He prodded Loki’s side with his fingers. The god slapped his hand away. “Okay,” Tony said. The spell created a pressure in his head when he tried to buy time that only made avoiding it impossible. “I have dreams with you feeding me an apple sometimes. And you’re wicked in them Loki, you really are.” Tony stared brightly at Loki, smiling at the stupid dream, but Loki’s eyes had gone wide. 

“That is a fantasy to you?” Loki asked, seeking clarity. 

“Sometimes,” Tony said. “Sometimes I like it. Sometimes it’s a nightmare.” 

Loki’s eyebrows arched in towards themselves. “They’re dreams that you have at night when we’re asleep?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He didn’t like the look on Loki’s face. “Why are you asking?” 

“Those are _my_ dreams,” Loki said. “I must be subconsciously sharing them with you.” He pressed his hand to his forehead, closing his eyes. Tony chuckled, wrapping his arms around Loki. It did nothing to ease him. 

“What’s that fantasy about then, hmm?” Tony asked, trying to be playful. He rocked his arms.

“You know what it’s about,” Loki snapped. Tony’s arms went stiff. Then he let go of Loki. “It’s about you taking one of Idunn’s apples and staying with me,” Loki said as the spell pressed against his skull, dissatisfied with his first answer. “Why won’t you take it?” 

All of the mirth and playfulness drained from Tony’s face. The spell pressed at his head and then took his lips when he would not comply. “Because I’m afraid that somewhere down the line you’ll get bored of me Loki or things won’t work out and then I’ll be stuck that way. I don’t want to live forever. I don’t want to watch my friends die.” 

“It’s not forever,” Loki said. “It’s a few thousand years.” Whatever good mood had been left in him had drained as well. “You do not wish to spend that time with me?” He knew it was dangerous and unethical to ask questions under these circumstances, but he was only heeding emotion. 

“I want to,” Tony said. “I just don’t know if I want to live that long.” He scratched his fingers against his beard out of anxiety. “Sometimes in those dreams you do leave me to be with someone else, Loki. In most of them, you don’t even ask if it’s what I want.” Tony regretted starting this. He wished that he’d said nothing at all. It was too late. “Is that what you’d do?” 

“I don’t know,” Loki said. Self-loathing surged through him as he heard his voice. “I don’t want to.” 

Tony looked away, hoping that Loki would drop it. They could ride this spell out and then try and forget about it. “Sometimes they are good dreams though,” Loki said. “That’s why it is a fantasy?”

Tony nodded his head minutely. He could tell Loki was about to ask another question even as he pointedly refused to look at him. “Why won’t you drop it?” Tony asked quietly. 

“Because I’m afraid that you don’t love me,” Loki said. The spell answered too quickly for him to muffle the words or hide it. He turned to walk back towards the bushes, unwilling to hear Tony’s answer. 

Tony grabbed his shoulder. “Of course I fucking love you,” Tony said. His voice was rife with frustration. “After all of the stuff I’ve done with you, how can you think I don’t? Huh? I don’t even know where the hell I am right now, Loki, just that it’s here and it’s with you and that’s where I chose to be.” 

“Then why don’t you ever say it?” Loki heard the words leave his lips even as he stared mortified at the bushes, disgusted with himself for asking such a needy question. 

“Because I can’t remember you saying it and I thought it was just one of those things that didn’t have to be said. I thought that if I said it, you’d get scared off. I didn’t know that you wanted to hear it.” He let Loki slip from his grip. 

Loki stomped towards the bushes, desperate to hide the emotion welling up. “Come here you little beasts,” he hissed. “Come here right now.” 

“Do you want me to say it?” Tony called out behind him. 

Loki bit his cheeks and clenched the muscles in his throat, but it was futile. “Yes,” he rasped out. “You idiot.” 

“Okay,” Tony said, sounding slightly passive aggressive. 

“Andor,” Loki demanded. “Brynjar.” 

“Are you mad at me?” Tony called out. 

“No,” Loki said. He rubbed at his face and then snapped his fingers, taking in a long breath to reign in his emotion. “Andor!” The ram refused to appear. Loki stayed crouched down by the bush, snapping his fingers. 

Twigs crunched as Tony walked over beside him. He squatted down next to Loki. Tony waited a little before speaking. He thought that there had been tears on Loki’s face, but he also knew that Loki would rather Tony pretend that he didn’t know. “I’m going to say this while this stupid magic nonsense is going on,” Tony said, “so that you know without a doubt that I mean it.” 

Loki stopped snapping his fingers. He let them drop limply to his side. “I love you, Loki. I love you in a stupid, reckless sort of way that doesn’t even make sense to me sometimes. I love you so much that I would follow you anywhere, and I do. I love you more than I knew I was capable of and probably in ways that aren’t even healthy. But I love you Loki, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.” Tony sighed. “But that apple isn’t the same thing as loving you, Loki.” 

“I cannot be tortured by the thought of your death anymore,” Loki said. His voice was quiet, and far more somber than Tony had ever heard. He spoke with a depth that only emphasized to Tony just how deep Loki’s experiences ran. He seemed so much older suddenly. “Sometimes it is the only thing I can think about.” 

“I don’t know what to do,” Tony said. 

“Take the apple,” Loki said. Tony was staring at the bush now, pretending that he could see Andor. “Please,” Loki whispered. 

“I don’t know if I’m ready to,” Tony said. 

“Would you hate me if I forced you to?” 

  “Probably.” 

“That is the only thing stopping me.” 

“I know.” 

Tony brought a fist to his mouth and stared pensively, dropping it finally and then scratching the back of his neck. “I thought this truth spell would be more fun,” he said. 

“They’re not,” Loki said. 

“You sound like someone that knows from experience,” Tony said. 

“I made the mistake of trying one on the warriors three when I was young,” Loki said. “What we had of a friendship was torn after that.” He felt Tony’s arm wrap around his back and was grateful. “I wish I had never asked them things.” 

“Will you get weird about this once it wears off?” Tony asked. “I don’t want you to sulk.” 

“I can’t promise,” Loki said. He finally turned his head to look at Tony and found a kind face looking back at him. “Will you be?” 

“I’m going to hate myself for not hearing that fantasy of yours for a while,” Tony said. “But I’ll try again when we’re not hopped up on truth serum.” Tony grinned. “I wish I could lie and say I’d get over it and let it go, but I won’t.” 

Loki smirked. “If you ask me again right now,” he said, leaning into Tony’s arm, “I will tell you.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “But the question is, will you kill me for it?” 

Loki blinked with a sly smile, but could not prevent the answer. “No,” he said. “I rather want you to ask me again.” 

“That’s hard to believe,” Tony said. 

“It’s a truth spell, Stark,” Loki said. 

“I know,” Tony said, but Loki was grinning. Tony took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said. “What is the filthiest, most secret fantasy you’ve had that you’ve been too shy or afraid to tell me in its entirety?” 

Loki leaned in against his ear and began to whisper. Tony lost his balance and fell on his back, taking Loki with him. Spurred on by the spell, Loki continued whispering salacious things in excruciating detail even as Tony jostled to rearrange them more comfortably, letting Loki fall between his raised knees as the god spoke into his ear. Tony’s face had flushed deep red and Loki wasn’t even a quarter of the way through. 

Tony’s eyes rolled back as he listened, a shiver tingling down his spine. At some point he was aware that Andor and Brynjar had come from their hiding places, but he didn’t care. When Loki leaned off of him and his warm breath vanished from his ear, Tony swallowed hard. His mouth was dry. “Oh,” Tony said. “MY GOD.” His voice spooked several winged creatures from their hiding places. 

Loki grinned, chuckling darkly in the bottom of his throat. “I’m ashamed,” Tony said. “Mine aren’t even half as good as that.” 

Loki laughed outright. “I know,” he said. 

“I think I’m going to need some time to recover,” Tony said, wiping a hand across his forehead. Loki reached out his arm and plucked up one of the rams. He rolled over onto his back, allowing Tony to wrap his arms around over his stomach. “Seriously,” Tony said. “I’m impressed.” 

“I considered that fur cape for the seventh bit, but it would detract from the scene,” Loki said. 

Tony was so wrapped up in that fantasy that it took him a moment to remember what cape Loki was referring to. “I don’t want to talk about that,” he said. 

“I do,” Loki said. 

“Please don’t,” Tony begged. For once Loki was merciful. 

“Can we go back to Midgard?” Tony asked. “I don’t think I can take another round of house squatting for a while.” 

“Yes,” Loki said. He closed his eyes. “But perhaps it would be best to go after this spell wears off. I am afraid there are some things I would not be capable of holding back from saying.” 

“Same here,” Tony said. He stared up at the alien sky and thought he felt his heart beating in rhythm with the god lying against his chest. He heard Andor shoot off, mewing, and a second flurry of tiny footsteps follow. Tony rested his chin against Loki’s head. “I love you,” he muttered. 

“I know,” Loki said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to arashkya for the prompts in this one!
> 
> I'm not entirely sure what Loki whispered into Tony's ear, but you are welcome to make guesses. ;) 
> 
> The next chapter will answer what Tony was trying to warm Loki up to ask. Thanks for reading!


	24. A Generous Offer

Loki was in an exceptionally good mood. Like really, really, fucking good. When he came into Tony’s study he was singing in a distant, wholly self-indulgent way and spinning a sleek pen around between his fingers. Tony looked up from the thick stack of Stark Industry papers in front of him. He was trying to stay involved, even though it was pretty evident that he wasn’t. 

“Whose day did you ruin?” Tony asked, watching him carefully. Loki’s mouth slipped into a devious smirk, but he didn’t look at Tony. “Loki,” Tony said, the tiniest hint of reprimand in his voice. 

“No one’s day was ruined,” Loki said, lofty and arrogant. He slid his pointer finger along the dust on Tony’s bookshelf. 

Tony sat back in his leather chair, considering. He knew an opportunity when he saw one, and there was certainly an opportunity in front of him. Loki in a mood like this one was a rare. Whatever mischief Loki had gotten into could wait. There was a question that Tony had been dying to ask Loki, and if there was ever a time, this was it. 

Loki strolled over to the desk, splaying the papers across the desk with his hand. “A waste of your time, Stark,” Loki said. He reached over and slid his fingers into Tony’s hair. The man’s soft brown eyes followed the hand longingly as it slipped away. 

“I have a better idea,” Tony offered. 

Loki’s eyebrow raised as he kept his gaze on the desk, listening. Tony stood and leaned across the desk. His voice came deep, almost in a whisper. “Why don’t we put that magic of yours to a good use?” He placed his hand over Loki’s, caressing his fingertips over Loki’s long fingers. Loki leaned in obligingly, just within reach of Tony’s mouth. 

Tony’s breath drifted over the sensitive shell of his ear. “Maybe with a form that’s a little softer,” Tony suggested. His pulse jumped. He was afraid of the fallout. Tony didn’t want to think of what a mess it would be if Loki got offended. Still, Tony felt it was worth the risk. With his free hand he brushed a stray lock of hair back behind Loki’s ear. The god leaned minutely into the touch, attention rapt. Tony felt heat creep into his stomach. “A little curvier,” Tony whispered. “Wetter. Wouldn’t that be fun?” 

Loki laughed, from the very bottom of his throat. “Oh it would be,” he agreed loudly, turning towards Tony. “So generous of you to offer,” he said, cupping his hand back behind Tony’s skull. 

Tony’s brain was tripping over itself as those slender fingers rubbed against his short crop of hair. That meant…that meant…

“And here I’d been thinking,” Loki said, not missing a beat, “that you had been nauseatingly selfish since our arrival on Midgard.” His dark eyes flashed as a narrow smile turned up his lips. “I feel almost…repentant.” He leaned down and kissed the side of Tony’s neck, sucking the delicate, hot skin there. 

_Well, fuck_ , Tony thought. Loki straightened up and looked deep into his eyes, mirth dancing around his green irises, as if daring Tony to tell him otherwise. Tony licked his lips, trying to think of a way to spin things back into his favor. 

Loki smiled in a confident, domineering sort of way that made Tony melt in ways it shouldn’t. Tony grinned, anxious as hell inside. They had tried this before. Well, _failed_ would be a better way to put it. Tony had started off phrasing what he wanted in a crass way that unexpectedly got under Loki’s skin, and resulted in a pretty nasty lecture. Tony wasn’t sure why Loki still changed forms for him anyway, after all that Loki had said. 

Everything that followed proceeded to utterly crush Tony’s self-esteem and make him doubt the honesty of every vagina owning partner he’d ever been with. Loki had zero problems pointing out what he was doing wrong, with excruciating detail and loudly voiced boredom. He was Tony fucking Stark. He wasn’t supposed to have doubts. 

He needed to try again, to prove to himself that he could get it right. 

Loki’s thumb brushed over his chin, drawing back his attention. “I would so enjoy the change of pace,” Loki said. He tilted Tony’s head to the side as if playing with his food. “Do you have any requests?” 

Tony swallowed hard. “No,” he said quickly. Loki’s gaze snapped back to him, evaluating his commitment. Tony backpedaled fast. “At least make me hot,” he said. 

Loki’s hand twitched. “Whatever makes you think I would not?” 

Tony shrugged, but Loki seemed amused enough with the answer. He leaned in and kissed Tony, his powerful tongue sliding across Tony’s teeth. Tony’s eyes fell closed. 

Loki was in a really, really fucking good mood now. He thought when Loki had first walked in it was good, but this was in a league of its own. He could tell in the tender way that Loki grabbed his shoulder before knocking everything from the desk onto the floor that things were going to be good. Tony gasped as his collar was tugged, and then his back was slammed onto the desk. 

Loki slipped from his reach. He stood at the end of the desk, staring down thoughtfully, like it was a stack of papers he was looking at and not a gasping Tony Stark sprawled out in a compromising position. He rubbed his hand beneath his chin, humming. 

The erection straining up from his jeans under Loki’s critical gaze sent a hot flush down Tony’s back. He tried not to think about it. Loki was obviously thinking something over, and Tony knew better than to interrupt him with that face. It was the same one Tony had in the lab when he was working on something. 

Loki was evaluating Tony, certainly, but Tony realized a moment too late that the mischief was not gone from the god’s eyes. Not at all.

“Yes,” Loki said to himself. “I think I’ve made up mind.” The words purred from his mouth. Tony groaned as he felt magic rush over him, warm and light. When he looked up from the desk he saw satisfaction wash across Loki’s expression. 

Before Tony could inspect his new body, there was a heavy knock at the door. Loki’s head whipped towards the sound. “LOKI!” It sounded like both Clint and Bruce. 

Loki smiled, wild and eager. He turned his head back to Tony, staring down. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until I return,” he said. 

“What?!” Tony blurted out in a voice too high for him. 

“I said,” Loki answered, walking over to him and running a hand down the smooth curve of his stomach, “to wait until I return.” He trailed his hand back up and cupped it over the generous flesh of Tony’s new breast, grazing the peaked nipple as Tony’s sour face glared at him. 

“Seriously? Can’t you just bar the door or something? Soundproof it? You’ve done that sort of shit before!” Tony argued. He tried to sit up but Loki pushed him back down. 

“No-no,” Loki chided him as shouts came through the door. “You will stay here until I get back.” He grinned, and Tony felt a new sort of heat gather inside him. “Do you understand?” 

“Yes,” Tony sighed, rolling his eyes. With one last firm but fond warning glance, Loki left him. Tony could hear him cheerfully greet Bruce and Clint as the door slammed shut. Tony closed his eyes. He didn’t want to know what sorts of chaos were about to happen in the tower. 

Instead, Tony slid off the desk. At least while Loki was distracted he could figure out how this new body worked. He adjusted to the sensation of thick thighs brushing past themselves as he walked over to the leather chair. 

Tony parted his legs with a ridiculous amount of curiosity for a man of his experience and age. “We’ll see if it’s really that easy,” Tony muttered bitterly to himself, painted fingers taking hold of his clit. Long locks of dark brown hair fell past his elbows and hid his face as he leaned forward in the chair. 

Tony started to get excited about the entire thing, fervently hoping that it took Loki a few hours to return. There was a lot he wanted to try before the god got back. 

Tony moaned as heat rushed towards his fingers. Just as Tony was getting into it, a searing pain punched him right in-between his hips. Tony felt his face go clammy as he slumped forward. His forehead rested against the cold desk. “Oh god,” Tony whispered. “What the hell was that?” 

His hands retreated to brace against the desk. He peeked open one eye. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Tony said, seeing the blood on his fingers. He curled his legs up towards him as another cramp seized his new body. 

“You’re still mad at me,” Tony whispered against the desk. “You’re still fucking mad about the thing I said.” He squeezed his eyes shut. He was immensely sorry for everything he had ever, ever said about PMS or periods and every time he’d been an ass about buying pads. He thumped his forehead against the desk. “Stupid, stupid, stupid…” He muttered. 

Just when Tony thought it had stopped, another one started. “SERIOUSLY?” Tony screamed at the ceiling. “YOU MADE YOUR POINT!” 

Somewhere in the building a god of mischief laughed until his sides ached and tears rolled down his face.


	25. A Generous Offer II

Tony dug through Natasha’s bathroom cabinet, thinking that if she caught him now, it wouldn’t be the worst position she had found him in. Not by a long shot. 

Tony had crawled out of the leather chair to come here, exhausted past the point of being angry anymore. Naturally, Jarvis helped him break into Natasha’s suite. It wasn’t really breaking and entering if it was for a good cause though, he thought, knowing that was untrue. 

He had taken clothes from his floor simply because he didn’t want to find out what Natasha would do to him if she found him in her lingerie, but his clothes were hilariously ill-suited for this body. This bleeding, aching, angry body. After giving up on tampons (which gave him the _worst_ inferiority complex) he managed to find a box of pads crammed under a hair dryer. Once he felt less like _Carrie_ , he slumped over the bathroom counter and stared listlessly at the mirror. 

Alright, so this body was lovely, if he overlooked the raging pain and blood. And the bloating and aches and peculiar sensitivity to color. 

“Jarvis,” Tony said. “Where’s Natasha?” 

“Still at Shield Headquarters,” Jarvis said with exasperation. This was the third time that Tony had asked in five minutes. 

“And Loki?” 

There was a long pause. “Would you like to see?” Jarvis asked curiously. A slow grin peeled across Tony’s face. It had to be good if his AI was picking up on it. 

With an affirmative, a projection appeared beside him. Loki was lounging on the common room couch. He was on his side with his arm propping his head up, licking a lollypop with his free hand like he had all of the time in the world. He tilted the stick back and forth between his fingers before dragging his slick tongue along the translucent confection. 

“That bastard,” Tony grumbled. His stomach flipped at the sound of his voice. He liked how swearing sounded in this body. “How long has he been doing that?” 

“Approximately an hour.” 

Tony’s rested his hand against his hip, contemplating. He glared at the projection a moment before telling Jarvis to shut it off. “I can play games,” Tony said. 

He stomped back up to his floor and grabbed his wallet. He could definitely play games. 

Twenty minutes later he was standing in the dressing room of a boutique discovering that hey, these breasts weren’t going to fit into this dress, or the last five either. Tony pulled back a curtain to stare unamused at the saleswoman. She looked him up and down, equally unimpressed. “That’s a no,” she said. She called someone over from the sales floor. “She really wants it to say fuck you,” she told a younger sales woman. 

The woman toyed with the gold name tag pinned to her suit. “That’s not going to say fuck you,” she said. “Wait here for a second.” 

As they listened to the sound of her heels fade away, the saleswoman fixed Tony with a wry stare. “If you really want to get back at this guy, my friend at the makeup counter’s incredible. She’ll probably give you a discount if your story’s good.” 

“Oh,” Tony said. “It is.” The saleswoman’s mouth quirked up into a smile as her friend appeared with a creamy, sheer colored dress. 

Ten minutes later Tony was walking out of the store with an abused credit card and a deadly smile on his face. 

 

“How’d you get in here?” Clint asked. He tried to sound intimidating, but he was clearly floundering. The woman standing in the doorway looked every bit as dangerous as Natasha. He was trying not to draw comparisons. 

She walked past him like she owned the place. The light caught the cream color of her dress as she reached up to grab a box of painkillers from the cabinet. Lacquered nails glinted as she poured herself a glass of water, brushing her long mahogany locks back over her bare shoulders. 

“Quit staring at my ass, Clint.” Tony downed the pills and dropped the glass in the sink. He spun back around. Clint was weary and defensive, every bit the Shield spy he was supposed to be. “It’s me.” That only produced a glare. “Tony,” he said helpfully. 

Clint’s eyes darted downwards, and Tony was torn between the curious desire to laugh at him, and a quiet sort of irked anger. “Did you forget about the talents of our resident demi-god?” Tony bit back a smirk. God, he could sound so much more condescending with this voice, it was beautiful. Clint’s back snapped straight. 

“Yeah, that bastard turned my bed into a bird nest,” Clint said. 

Tony shrugged. “Not his most creative.” 

“So…” Clint said, more interested in the curves Tony was rocking than rehashing petty pranks. “Is this…what is this, exactly?” 

“This,” Tony said, flipping his hair back over his shoulder, “is revenge.” He tapped his nails against the counter. “Well, it started as Loki’s revenge, but now it’s going to be mine.” 

“I don’t really see the logic in that.” 

As if to make his point, Clint stared right at Tony’s overburdened chest again. Tony brushed at the thick strip of eyelashes glued to his eyelid. “I’m going to kill him with his own jealousy.” 

Clint got up from the couch. “I know a great therapist if you guys need one,” he said. Tony started to speak, but Clint cut him off. “I don’t need to know,” he said. Taking the stairs, he left. 

“Spoil sport,” Tony muttered. 

Undeterred, Tony got inside the elevator. He tugged at the short dress as it rode up again. This was less fun than he thought it would be. He slammed his palm against the floor button. 

Loki hadn’t made a move from lounging around in the common room. He glanced up, mid lick, as the doors rolled open. The color drained from his face. 

“Let’s go,” Tony said. “We’re going out.” 

Loki choked on his own spit as he sat up. He hacked and coughed, a tear rolling down his face. The lollypop fell and stuck to the couch. Tony leaned his weight into one hip, resting his hand on the door ajar button. “I told you to stay put,” Loki said, trying to win back some semblance of control. Tony laughed, practically purring. 

“When have I followed the rules?” 

Loki slinked towards the elevator, turning his head to the side as he allowed himself to look Tony over. It was almost predatory but Tony felt his stomach flip pleasantly. Loki was trying to play it off, arrogant and haughty, but it was hard to take him too seriously when Tony could see his boner. As Loki stepped inside, his hand slipped beneath Tony’s chin. He tilted Tony’s head up. “I may have outdone myself,” he murmured in Tony’s ear. 

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Tony said, pushing back at his chest. Loki bristled. “I did this myself.” Loki scoffed, but Tony caught the way he leaned in closer, still trying to make contact. “Now you have two choices.” Loki’s eyes flickered back towards him, amused by the statement. “I am going out. Either you come with or stay in.” 

Loki reached forward and grabbed a lock of Tony’s hair. He twirled it between his fingers, watching Tony from the corner of his eye. “What’s in it for me, love?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. He dropped back against the elevator wall. His feet were murderous in these heels. Loki took it as an opportunity to lean in, bracing an arm on either side. Tony could feel himself flushing. That wasn’t supposed to happen. “Nothing,” he said, making it sound cocky. 

Loki hummed at that. Tony rubbed up against him, grinning when it made Loki suck in a breath and compulsively lean closer. “Absolutely. Nothing.” Tony set his hand on Loki’s hip. Sliding his thumb up and down he asked, “now what will your answer be?” 

Loki dropped his hands down to hold Tony’s narrow waist and tucked his nose into the crook of Tony’s neck. Tony smelled lush and carnal beneath the heavy floral perfume. “It would be unwise to leave you up to your own devices,” he said against Tony’s skin. 

“It would be,” Tony agreed. He let Loki stay there a moment longer, breathing in against his neck, only because he was enjoying how different arousal felt in this body. When Loki’s teeth grazed across his collarbone he pushed him back. “We’re going out then,” Tony said. 

Loki stared up at him from behind a curtain of tousled hair, his eyes tinged with lust and impatience. “Move,” Tony said, wriggling out around him. Everywhere he moved Loki leaned in, as if he was going to die at lost contact. Tony pressed the button for the garage. 

“I don’t wish to ride in one of those,” Loki said, eyeing the cars with disdain. 

“Since when,” Tony said, walking out into the garage. Loki stood up from where he’d been leaning over Tony. The car meant being jerked around and sitting in traffic. 

“I will transport us,” Loki said. 

“You just want to feel my ass,” Tony said. Loki grinned. Alright, so it was that too. “Fine,” Tony said, walking back over. “We’re going to a restaurant in Soho.” He wrapped his arms around Loki and dropped his full weight inward. He loved feeling Loki try and press back into the contact. It gave him a thrilling sense of power. “Now.” 

“You’re impatient in this form,” Loki muttered. He transported them all the same. 

The moment Tony walked into the restaurant he turned heads. He’d walked in front of Loki, flustering the hostess as she lead them in the direction of their table. Before they’d taken three steps Loki was at Tony’s side, linking their arms together and walking too close. He stiffened when the hostess pulled back a chair for Tony and ignored him completely. Tony gloated at him as the waiter came over. 

The waiter seemed indifferent as he took their order, so Tony batted his eyelashes and rested his hand in his palm. He heard Loki muffle a laugh. Tony shot him a nasty glare. Loki reached across the table and set his hand over Tony’s as the waiter left. 

“Two can play at this game,” he said. 

Tony hadn’t been planning on him catching on so fast. He tugged his dress down a tad. Loki couldn’t stop himself from looking. Tony smirked. “Yes, but I’ll win.” 

Loki took back his hand and used it to pop the first few buttons on his dress collar. He arched his neck as he leaned into his chair, glancing around the restaurant. Nothing changed. No turned heads, no one choking on their water. Nothing. 

Tony sipped his red wine. As soon as he was certain that Loki’s attention was back on him, he flipped his hair back over his shoulder. It caught the hazy restaurant light in a cascade of hazel. Several eyes darted towards him. Tony grabbed his golden clutch from the table. With an assured glance at Loki and a small grin, he held his hand out. Loki’s vision traveled down Tony’s slender arm to the golden clutch. Tony let it fall. 

A man had been watching at the next table over. He practically fell over himself rushing to pick it up. “Oh, you dropped this,” he said.

“Thank you,” Tony said. He pulled his leg away as Loki slid his against Tony’s under the table. The man looked like he was working up the courage to say something else. 

“Thank you,” Loki said curtly, glaring at the man. His expression withered. He vanished almost instantly. 

“Cheater,” Tony said. He kicked Loki’s shin. 

Loki smiled, grabbing Tony’s hand. He turned Tony’s hand over and held it palm up. With his free hand he delicately brushed his fingertips over Tony’s wrist. “As I said, two can play this game.”

“You’re cheating with whatever glamour you have on too,” Tony said. “I’m pretty sure that guy just saw Stone Cold Steve Austin staring him down.” 

“I haven’t used a glamour,” Loki said, dipping his pointer finger into the center of Tony’s hand. He traced a soft circle. “I have only made it so that they cannot recognize me.” Tony wanted to pull his hand away, but it felt too pleasant. Instead he settled for glaring at the nearby wall as Loki stared at him. 

The food came before either of them said anything else. Tony didn’t like the cool assurance that had come over Loki. Tony ate his food aggressively. He was still getting noticed, but Loki was only looking at him with relish, like he was about to get everything he wanted anyway. 

When the waiter came with the desert menu, Tony flirted like his life depended on it. The waiter finally turned red but Loki’s smug gaze didn’t flicker once. 

“For the tenth time, stop doing that,” Tony said, shoveling chocolate mousse into his face. Loki reached over and wiped a fluff of mousse from his lips. 

“Doing what?” He asked, licking the mousse from his thumb. 

“That and that,” Tony said, rubbing his thighs together. Loki rested his arm over the back of his chair and stared at Tony. Tony took a heaping bite of mousse while mustering his best death glare. “I don’t like it,” he said, swallowing. 

Loki just grabbed the check and slid money into the black leather folder from thin air. Tony wondered if the man at the other table would open his wallet to find that it was empty. “You have two choices,” Loki said. “Either we stay out or we go back.” 

Tony dropped his empty spoon into the glass dish. He wasn't about to give up that easily. “Club,” Tony said. 

The club did nothing to wipe the smirk off Loki’s face. “Wine bar,” Tony said next. 

“Wine bar” turned into “another club” and “another” until Tony was leaning with his head against Loki’s chest, trying to keep his balance. “This body gets drunk too fast.” 

“It has a brand new liver,” Loki said. His arms were wrapped around Tony, patiently waiting. Not once had the smugness slipped. 

“Shut up,” Tony muttered. “Just tell me what you’re so fucking pleased about.” 

“Nothing,” Loki said. “Absolutely. Nothing.” 

Tony rubbed his forehead into Loki’s dress shirt. Somewhere along the line he’d started clutching the shirt beside his head. His nails were pulling the fabric taut. “Fine. Let’s go back.” 

“As you wish.” 

Loki took them back to his room in the tower. Tony crawled into the covers immediately. His shoes poked out from under the blankets. Loki reached over and began unbuckling the straps. He delicately slid off each shoe and set it beside the bed. “Aren’t you going to tell me,” Tony mumbled against the pillow. 

With a flick of his hand, Loki’s clothes morphed into sleep wear. He pulled back the covers to Tony’s protest. “Do you wish to sleep in that?” 

Tony reached his hand around behind him and tugged at the zipper twice before giving up. The bed sank as Loki came towards him. With one long, keening peel the zipper came undone. Tony sighed as the dress was pulled from him. Suddenly his skin could breathe. 

He felt Loki’s finger run over the lace of his lingerie, but then the covers were pulled up over them. Tony scooted closer towards him and smacked his face into Loki’s chest. “This is not how I expected the night to end,” Tony said, mildly annoyed. 

Loki combed Tony’s hair back from his flushed face. “I think I won our little game,” Loki said. 

“By pure stubborn will,” Tony said, instantly finding enough energy to smack at Loki’s chest. A deep laugh was his only reply. “What the hell,” Tony said sleepily. 

“There is always tomorrow,” Loki said. 

Tony cracked an eye open. “We’re still doing this tomorrow?” 

Loki’s finger brushed across his bottom lip. “Would you like to?” 

Something about the way Loki said it sent a shiver down his spine even as his mind screamed that it was a trick. Loki clearly had something planned. Something he desperately wanted, by the look of it. “I’m going to bleed all over your sheets,” Tony said, settling on a threat instead. “You spiteful bastard.” 

Loki began laughing. When Tony’d had enough he leaned up onto his elbow. Loki was still laughing. Tony hit him with a pillow and rolled over. The laughter subsided. A moment later he felt Loki’s arm curl around his waist and pull him in closer, tucking his cold nose in. “Fine,” Tony muttered. “But only because I’m curious as hell.” 

He could feel the smile against his neck as Loki pulled him in tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> suggestions and ideas always welcome! :)


	26. Sleipnir

Tony turned the device over in his hands. He attempted to read the screen relentlessly, but the harder he focused, the more the symbols rearranged themselves into something illegible. Tony couldn’t remember bringing the device into the lab with him, but he knew that he had to type something into it. He just wasn’t sure what it was. 

It was like a rubik cube, except there was no answer. 

Somewhere, Tony thought he heard a child’s sob. The device reverberated light blue. Then the sound was unmistakable. The child began crying in earnest, and the device erupted in light blue light, blinding Tony as he felt it slip from his hands. 

 

Tony didn’t recognize the place that he stood in. Tapestries adorned the dimly lit room, depicting scenes of hunts and battles. A curtain on the far end of the room was cracked open, allowing a slat of gold sunlight inside, flecked with dust. 

Another sob racked the room. Tony looked everywhere, but he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. There was a desk with open books and bottles around it, carved wooden horses and warriors scattered across the floor, and a dented toy sword. The enormous bed was empty. Another sob echoed. 

Tony walked cautiously, following the sobs as they became more frequent and choked, like the child was trying to cut them off. He stopped just outside the closet door. 

His fingers gently pushed the door sideways. A little boy looked up at him from the floor of the closet, tears rolling down his face even as confusion crept in. He had pulled his knees tight to his chest, and as Tony stood there he hid his face. 

Tony crouched down on the floor. Slowly, he realized who it was. “Hey there,” Tony said gently. “What happened?” 

Loki buried his face against his arms, hiccuping another sob. Tony sank onto the floor. He leaned against the doorframe with a sad smile that was meant to be reassuring. “You can tell me. It’s okay.” 

“He said—” Loki’s voice came mumbled against his arms. 

“I can’t hear you,” Tony said quietly. Loki’s head came up reluctantly. His face was dark red even in the shadows. 

“He said I’m never going to to be good at it, that I’m not as strong as the others.” His gaze anchored on the floor. 

“Who said that?” 

“Our teacher,” Loki said, quickly wiping away the tears from his face. He was clearly in the habit of self-soothing, and that worried Tony far more than the crying. “And father said I have to be good at it, but I’ll never be as good as Thor or anybody else.” 

“That’s not true,” Tony said. 

“Yes it is,” Loki said, with a little anger. “I’m the worst warrior, I can’t even hold a sword right and Thor’s already learning blocking.” The admission resulted in a fresh wave of hiccuping tears. 

Tony leaned off the doorframe. “Let’s get you out of there,” he said. Loki’s red rimmed eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

“I don’t want to go back to class. You can’t make me. I won’t.” 

“I’m not taking you back to class.” Tony stood up, offering Loki his hand. “Come on up, you don’t need to hide. It’s okay. I won’t make you go to class.” 

After a moment, Loki hesitantly gave Tony his hand. He stumbled standing. “Can I pick you up?” Tony asked. Loki was so small. Tony couldn’t imagine him being older than five, much less learning how to fight. Loki nodded his head. 

Tony scooped him up, carrying him out into the room. “That’s better,” he said. Loki shook against his chest as another sob broke free. “It’s okay,” Tony said as Loki’s little hand balled into a fist against his chest. “You can cry.” 

“Warriors don’t cry,” Loki grumbled. Tony bounced his arms playfully. 

“Sure they do,” Tony said. “I do. Are you telling me I’m not a warrior?” Loki looked at him. A tiny, tiny smile appeared on his tear streaked face. “Is that what you’re saying?” Tony teased him. 

“No,” a little voice said. 

“See?” Tony asked. He hugged Loki close, resting his chin on the boy’s head. He’d never be able to give this kid all the comfort he wanted to, not if he hugged him a hundred years. “Now then. I wonder if I should tell you a secret. Can you keep a secret?” 

“Yes,” Loki whispered. 

“I don’t know,” Tony said, raising his eyebrow. Loki’s face scrunched with determination. “Okay, fine, but you’ve got to promise not tell anybody. Deal?” 

“Deal,” Loki said. Tony set him down on the edge of the bed. He leaned down, looking into Loki’s timid eyes with confident reassurance. 

“You don’t have to be a good fighter,” Tony said. “Everyone’s good at something different. You’re good at something too. And no matter what it is, you’re good enough. You’re good enough just because you’re you, kid. That’s enough.” 

Loki searched his face with innocent eyes, trying to understand Tony. 

Tony set his hands on Loki’s shoulders. “And besides,” Tony said. “You’ll be a wonderful warrior someday. Trust me. I know.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, grinning. Loki looked away, but before Tony could discern what he was thinking about, Loki slipped down onto the floor. He went over to his scattered toys and picked up a carved horse. Walking back to Tony’s side, he held it up towards him. 

Tony took it, not understanding. “This is for you,” Loki said. “You take care of it.” 

“Oh, I can’t take it…” Tony said, not wanting to steal the kid’s toy. 

“It’s yours,” Loki repeated. Tony lowered his hands to his lap, realizing it would be worse to refuse such a kind gesture. 

“He needs a name then,” Tony said. “What’s his name?” 

“What’s your name?” Loki asked. 

“Tony.” 

The word had an odd effect on the little boy. Suddenly the eyes staring at Tony were very, very old. 

 

Loki woke up. He lifted his arm and dropped it behind him on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. A horrible melancholy filled the ache left behind by the dream. 

He glanced over. Tony was sleeping, his breath shallow. As Loki reached over to rest his hand on Tony’s wide hips, the fun of yesterday was gone. He closed his eyes and brushed his thumb absently against Tony’s hipbone. 

For a man of science, Tony was perplexingly adept at entering his dreams. Loki wasn’t sure how Tony had come into one of his real memories, let alone why. Loki dropped both of his hands against his face, rubbing at his eyes. He hoped that Tony wouldn’t remember in the morning. There were dreams like this one that Tony had forgotten before. 

Loki rolled onto his side. He brushed Tony’s long brown hair over his hunched shoulder, getting an unobstructed view of Tony’s sleeping face, marked by smeared eye makeup. The Tony of his dreams drifted back into his head. A child deserved that Tony, and not just the one in his dream memory. 

He brushed his thumb back and forth across Tony’s side as the melancholy set deeper. 

 

The bed beside him was cold when Tony woke up. He asked Jarvis for the time and clutched his head, expecting a hangover. 

It took him a moment to realize that there was no hangover. There wasn’t his other body, either. 

“What gives?” Tony asked, throwing open Loki’s bedroom door without looking. He spotted Loki’s feet hanging over the side of the couch. 

“Since when do your spells wear off overnight?” Tony asked, rounding in on the couch. Loki glanced up at him. His skin was paler than usual, but Tony hardly noticed. “You changed me back before the real fun began. I swear, you’re having control issues again.” Loki watched him in silence, his eyes unnaturally lax and non-confrontational. “What part of I’m curious did you not get?” Tony let out a frustrated groan. “You didn’t actually have anything planned, did you?” 

“…Loki?” Tony frowned, dropping his arms to his sides. “…Are you going to say anything?” 

Loki’s eyes disappeared behind a slow blink. “No, I lied.” 

“Oh,” Tony said. “Well, if your creativity is failing, trust me, I can more than makeup for it. Did I tell you about that time in Malibu with the—Loki? Are you feeling okay there?” 

Loki rubbed at his eye, then let his hand fall against the couch as he closed his eyes. A few seconds later he felt Tony sit down beside him. He rubbed Loki’s thigh. “…Did I do something?” 

Loki’s lips twitched. He wasn’t sure how to answer that. 

“Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Look, if I fucked up, I’m sorry.” The hand on Loki’s thigh stilled. “Did you sleep on the couch? Shit, please don’t tell me you spent the night out here. What did I do?” 

“I woke up,” Loki said. “And could not return to sleep.” 

“Bad dream?” 

“Something like that,” Loki said in an undecipherable tone. Wondering what it was, Tony found himself thinking of his own dreams from the night before. There’d been one about his suits, one about Randy’s Donuts, and…oh. The supernaturally vivid one. 

“Was it the one I’m thinking of?” Tony asked gently. Loki nodded his head, unable to look at Tony. “Hey, you were a pretty cute kid. What was that horse’s name, anyway?” 

“Tony,” Loki said quietly. “Just go for a bit.” 

“What? Why? What did I do?” Tony’s hand cupped over Loki’s knee. “What’s wrong?” Loki turned his head to the side, too tired and empty to call on the anger he needed to rid himself of Tony. “Alright,” Tony said. “Tell me what’s going on.” He grabbed Loki’s hand, lacing his fingers through the limp ones in his grip. “Let’s start with why you changed me back. I know you. That wasn’t an accident.” 

Loki’s cold eyes settled on Tony, but it did nothing to intimidate him. If anything, it made Tony more determined. Loki took in a tight breath. “It was too hard to look at you.” 

Tony shoved out a laugh and smiled uncomfortably. “Ouch. There’s no need to put it like that—”

“Not in that manner,” Loki said. “It was a reminder of…I could not look at you without being pained by wanting.” 

“Wanting what?” Tony asked, a little more tactfully. Loki looked at him like he was the dumbest being in all the realms. He squeezed Loki’s hand, smiling uncomfortably again. 

“Why won’t you,” Loki muttered, sitting up. He shook his hand away as he got up. 

Tony leapt off the couch. He grabbed Loki’s elbows before he could walk further away. “We’re not doing this anymore,” Tony said, pressing his forehead against Loki’s back. “We talked about it, remember? No sulking around, making me try to mind read. Just tell me.” 

“Children, Tony.” His patience snapped. He turned around and grabbed Tony’s shoulders as the man’s expression warped between anxiety and guilt. “You won't stay, and you won’t give me this.” The last word hissed. “Do you not understand how that pains me?” He leaned in towards Tony’s face. Tony cringed as the grip on his shoulders became painful. “You are blind to your ability, and it is _painful_.” 

“Loki, I just don't think I’m ready to be a dad,” Tony floundered. 

“If there is any doubt in that, you need only look back into my dream to remind yourself.” Loki released his shoulders and took a step away. “Leave me be today. You are painful to look at even in that body. Go.” 

“Is that why you slept out here?” There was panic in Tony’s voice. “Loki, I didn’t realize you felt about it like that—”

“Have I not said it before?” Loki snapped. He drew his shoulders back tight and crossed his arms, restraining his anger. “Leave me be today. You ask too much in staying.” 

Tony rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. He stared down at the floor, feeling the burn in his cheeks. “Loki, I’ll—I’ll think about it.” 

“Forgive me if I say I’ve heard that before,” Loki said bitterly. 

“No, I—really.” Tony said. Loki felt his resolve soften by a fraction when Tony looked at him in earnest, but only by a fraction. “I will. I—” Sure, he had talked about it with Loki, and they’d argued about it, but it was grasping him differently now. He hadn’t really realized the extent that Loki meant it. “Let me think about it today, okay?” 

He grabbed Loki’s arm as he started for the door. He’d spend the day in the lab. That was where he did all of his best thinking. He didn’t know what to say, so he just squeezed Loki’s arm before letting go. He knew that Loki was being honest with him. Loki wouldn't let himself be seen as weak or vulnerable if there was a way for him to get out of doing so. His pride wouldn't let him.

“Stark,” Loki said when he reached the elevator doors. Tony turned around as the doors rolled open. “Consider well.” 

It was said of good will, and Tony knew it. He nodded his head with a soft smile as he stepped back. Loki watched the elevator doors close, Tony gone and his melancholy no better. Lying back down on the couch, he let his feet drop over the side. He conjured the carved horse from the air and held it in his hands, studying the nicks and scratches on it from years of love and play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to cameocorbin for suggesting Tony's accidental time travel to a traumatic day in Loki's childhood/children talk! I may have let the angst get a little carried away...
> 
> As always, thoughts/feelings/ideas/suggestions are welcome!


	27. one bite

“Okay,” Tony said. 

It was dark outside, and Loki had not bothered to turn on a light, not even within the gaudy stream of crystal above them. His outline was visible against the couch only by the dim city light filtering in past the windows. Tony held his hands up. He couldn’t see Loki move. 

“I’ve decided,” Tony announced. There was a soft rustle as Loki sat up. A faint halo appeared on the crown of his head but his eyes were shrouded in shadow. “But there’s a condition.” 

Tony dropped his hands down to his jeans. His heart was pounding and his shirt was darkening with anxious sweat. He forced a smile and felt the faintest comfort in his favorite defense. “I know you can’t really promise me this, but I need you to.” He pulled a tight breath in through his constricted throat. “You can’t…” He felt stubborn, almost angry as he pulled the words from himself. He’d been stewing on it all day. The emotion made it easier. “You can’t bail on me for a hundred years or something because you get pissy and then show back up again like it didn’t happen. You can’t yank me back and forth, just because I’ll be around forever. I…I need you to promise me that.” 

“You think I would abandon you after everything I’ve given you?” Loki asked. His voice came cold and analytical across the dark room, but Tony had already caught the stuttered gasp from Loki at his announcement. He knew they were equally affected, and both off balance. 

“Loki…” Tony said, ruffling his hand through his hair. “You know our fights. You have gotten pissy and left me out for days.” Saying it relieved Tony’s anxiety. Now that he had started talking, it was easy to keep going. “I’m agreeing to lose the world I know and everyone in it, to watch that all fade away. You know that’s going to fuck me up, right?” He didn’t notice himself cross his arms against his chest. “I can’t promise you I’ll handle it well or be fun to be around when it does. No matter how much you say you hate Thor, you have him. You have a place where people know you. I won't have that and…” Tony licked his lips. That old nightmare of Loki abandoning him was playing in his head again. 

“Don’t do that,” Tony blurted, to himself or the nightmare or Loki, he wasn’t sure. 

In the silent, dark room, it took Tony a moment to realize that Loki was walking towards him. His hand slid up Tony’s throat, his fingers pressing against the tense tendon in Tony’s neck. “Tony Stark,” Loki said in a low, authoritative whisper. “How many times have I proved my intention to keep you?” He tilted Tony’s head and for the first time Tony saw his eyes. In the dim light the whites of his eyes nearly glowed against his dark, perceptive pupils, like he could swallow Tony whole. “How many times have I indulged you, and even debased myself in asking, to prove that my intent is to keep you?” The bone in Tony’s throat bobbed against his fingers as the man swallowed. “More than enough,” Loki answered. 

He slid his free hand down the side of Tony’s face, brushing his thumb across the man’s lip. “You fear I will tire of you, you have said that often enough.” 

Guilt slipped into Tony’s mind at Loki’s callout. 

“I have been patient,” Loki said. “I will not reassure you for the next thousand years.” Tony’s breath slid over the fine hair on his arm, raising goosebumps. “Are we clear on that?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He felt relieved, and grateful that the dark room hid the satisfaction he pried from being handled like this. It didn’t serve his pride at all. 

“Good,” Loki said, brushing his thumb over Tony’s lip again. “This gift is reassurance enough. Now eat,” he said, the command possessive and sharp. Something appeared in his hand. 

“What? Where the hell did you get that from?” Tony asked, surprise speaking for him. “You’ve been such a martyr about how hard it was going to be to get one—”

“Eat,” Loki said impatiently, pressing the crisp flesh of a golden apple to Tony’s mouth. 

“Don’t you wanna hear the good stuff of why I want to?” Tony asked. 

“As if you would spare me the discourse,” Loki said. He pressed the apple harder against Tony’s bottom lip. Now that the moment was here, he could not spare it another second. Once he had dreamed of carving it out and feeding it to the mortal’s wet lips, but now another second seemed no less than torture. 

“Fine,” Tony said, taking a wide bite. The apple’s crunch echoed in Loki’s ears. “Hand me that,” Tony said with a full mouth, chewing loudly. “You’re going to choke me.” 

“No,” Loki said, turning the apple. 

Loki knew the second that Tony finished swallowing he would argue back. “Come now pet, you have made me wait long enough,” he said, wrapping his arm around behind Tony and curling a finger against his spine. He lilted his voice dark and low, making Tony lightheaded with flickers of lust that he tried to push away. Tony took the second bite with an unimpressed stare pointed at Loki. 

“I said I was going to do it. I don’t need the theatrics, helmet head.” Tony rolled his eyes as Loki insistently pressed the apple against his full mouth. 

“I cannot fathom why I thought this moment would be theatrical with you playing the lead,” Loki said, laughing dismissively in the bottom of his throat. It was weak. He was too tense, waiting for the process to finish. “Spare me the sentiments. Eat.” 

With another mouthful, Tony said, “this doesn’t taste like what I thought it would. It’s really tart.” 

It was Loki’s turn to roll his eyes. “Eat,” he said after a moment, brushing Tony’s hair down with his wrist and keeping the apple close. 

“I thought it would burn like bourbon or something,” Tony said. 

“Eat,” Loki said, mildly amused. He was too tense to truly relax, and Tony was barely masking his own anxiety. 

“Okay, okay,” Tony said with juice dripping down his chin. He muttered something as he took the next bite that Loki offered. Loki could only make out “possessive.” 

“If there is one thing that should reassure you,” Loki said, pushing a bead of juice back onto Tony’s lip with his index finger, “it is that I am quite possessive about what belongs to me.” He leaned down against Tony’s ear to whisper. “And you belong to me.” 

The words sent a flush of heat down Tony’s chest that pooled in his stomach. He took the final bite of the apple, staring into Loki’s expectant eyes until he swallowed. He was going to argue that point with Loki, some playful but serious jab about possessiveness being unhealthy, but he let it go in the moment. 

He felt an energy course across his skin, but it was gone like a breeze not a moment later. Aside from that, he felt no different. “Mine,” Loki said softly, bending Tony’s neck back and sliding his hot tongue past Tony’s sweet, fruit-slicked lips. 

Tony stumbled back onto the couch with Loki guiding him backwards, and as his shoulders were pressed down, he had the fleeting thought that it felt different, stronger maybe, but Loki’s lips at his neck chased that thought away. He was overwhelmed by Loki’s need, his urgency, and didn’t think anything past a throaty moan until they were laying sated and sweaty an uncountable time later. 

Tony still didn’t feel settled or calm yet, and neither did Loki completely, but he was certain that it would pass. 

“I…” Tony said, his voice cracking in his dry throat. Loki’s head shifted against its rest on his thigh. Tony brushed his hand through Loki’s tangled hair. “I always wanted to stay,” Tony said in a whisper. When Loki looked at him it was with marked annoyance. Tony smiled anxiously and looked down at the floor instead. “I didn’t know how to say yes.” 

“Yes,” Loki said, dragging out the word patronizingly, showing him how to say it. 

“Can we…can we go back to where I didn’t say anything and ruin the moment? I don’t know how or what I’m trying to say. I’m kind of a quantity, not quality guy.” 

“Yes,” Loki said, crawling over him and resting his chin against Tony’s forehead. Tony wasn’t sure if the ‘yes’ was mocking him or simply an answer. Loki’s hand slipped around the back of Tony’s neck, keeping him in place.

Tony thought of the months he’d spent turning it over, convinced that there would be a morning that Loki didn’t actually mean it. That Loki didn’t really want him. It had taken twelve hours in the lab and six failed experiments for him to ask if maybe he had been in denial about what he really wanted. This decision made him vulnerable, and that was not something he was comfortable with acknowledging. “I love you,” Tony muttered, closing his eyes. 

Loki let skin brush against skin as he tucked his head into the crook of Tony’s neck. “I know,” he said quietly. “I’ve always known.” 

“Then…” Tony said. His chest tensed until Loki’s fingers kneaded him back into pliancy. “How?” 

Loki’s voice murmured against Tony’s neck. “In all the time I spent proving my intent to you, I witnessed you choosing me as well.” He turned his head to rest his cheek against Tony’s shoulder. His chest shook with an unuttered laugh. “You’re thickheaded and impulsive and stubborn, but I knew I did not waste my time. I just wasn’t certain you would figure it out before your short mortal life ended.” He leaned up with a smug, impish grin. “You _are_ terribly slow.” 

“You doubted my intelligence,” Tony said, offended. Loki hummed in confirmation. 

Tony groaned. Perhaps if they hadn’t both been such showmen things would’ve been plainer. Easier. He thought about that a while before he said, “we’re the worst.” 

“We are,” Loki agreed with a languid smile. Tony quieted. Loki settled back down and swiftly fell asleep. 

All the times that Tony had seen him sleep, and never had he seen Loki so peaceful. It was as if all tension and stress had left him, leaving a far younger god behind. He may not have even been recognizable. Tony wrapped his arms tightly around Loki’s back and closed his eyes. It was a quiet beginning to a very different life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts/feelings on this chapter, but on a side note, I am so, so curious what you think of mpreg. I write these individually rather than with an arc in mind, so I haven't entirely decided if it'll be in this series or not, but I'm interested in if it works in fanfic, what/if it's appealing, and a consensus of if there's an interest in it. Thanks! Oh Tony, still such a mess in this one. Loki deserves a break.


	28. Just One Complaint

"Where’s Tony?” Clint asked, walking into a distinctly Tony-free common room. 

“He left this morning,” Natasha said without looking up. She took anther sip of her tea and turned the page of a magazine. Clint huffed a frustrated sigh. 

“He was going to go to the bar with me and watch the game today, what gives?” 

“You know Tony,” Natasha said. The magazine page flipped loudly. “He has a poor sense of time and Loki was probably getting stir crazy. They never stay that long.” 

“Yeah, but he usually says goodbye at least.” 

Natasha hummed noncommittally at that, but she found herself thinking about it again in the evening long after Clint had lost interest and moved onto other things. 

 

“Can we go?” Tony asked, prodding Loki in the side. They’d barely woken up. Loki had conjured food from some poor, unsuspecting restaurant for Tony to eat before closing his eyes and holding a coffee under his nose. The steam and bitter scent did little to wake him. 

“Go where?” Loki asked without interest. Tony knew better than to talk to him just after waking, and certainly not to prod him. 

“Your choice,” Tony said. “Anywhere, just, let’s go.” His restlessness unsettled Loki. The god pried one eye open, assessing the newly immortal man with hazy morning thoughts. When he sipped his coffee instead of answering, Tony’s hand latched onto his shoulder. “Come on,” Tony said, trying charm instead. “Newly immortal body right here, shouldn’t we test it out in one of the places you thought I was too weak to visit?” 

Loki’s eyes drifted closed again. He pulled in a heavy drink of coffee as he dropped his free hand down and snapped his fingers towards the floor. Andor came running, Brynjar following right behind. He heard Tony pull in a sharp breath. It seemed no amount of time would be enough for Tony to acclimate to the demonic little rams. He plucked Andor off the floor by his soft fluff and set him on his thigh. 

Tony’s hand receded from Loki’s shoulder. As Andor began to purr, staring directly at Tony, the man made a wide reach around for one of the pastries on the table. Fine. He could at least eat something as he waited for Loki to come around. 

Brynjar cried from the floor, distraught at being left out, but Tony would not touch him. Loki had done something to the once-mechanical ram when he hadn’t been looking, and now Brynjar was just as unsettlingly breathing and blood lusting as the other one. 

Tony took a slow bite of the pastry. Immediately he wanted to spit it out. 

Loki heard him toss it back onto the tray and grab another. Tony did it four more times before he said something. “These don’t taste right.” 

Loki smirked. Tony needn’t have said it. It was obvious in his behavior. “I suspect that many things won’t,” Loki said calmly. “Your body has changed.” He stroked his fingers through Andor’s fur and felt the couch move as Tony shifted uncomfortably. 

“That explains why my coffee tasted odd this morning,” Tony said. He had woken an hour before Loki and spent most of it pacing back and forth between Loki’s room and the rest of the tower. “Let’s go,” Tony said, now that Loki was in speaking territory. 

Loki just continued along with his breakfast, indulging Andor with a pastry and helping Brynjar join them on the couch. Tony backed into the corner of the couch, glaring at the trio. “Loki,” he said. It was not like the god to refuse him about changing locations. Usually Loki couldn’t take him somewhere new fast enough. Tony never got the chance to feel settled except for when he was in the tower. 

“Allow me to finish my breakfast, Stark,” Loki said irritably. Tony took a deep breath and let it out. 

“Fine,” Tony said. “But then we’re going.” He got off the couch and went to change his clothes. Loki watched as he walked away and disappeared into the bedroom. 

He was on his third cup of coffee when Tony came and stood by the couch, clearly at the end of his patience. Sighing, Loki stood from the couch and took his hand in the way that was so familiar and routine.

For the first time, Tony didn’t fall into him dizzy and lightheaded when they appeared in a different realm. Instead, he unlatched from Loki immediately and began walking around the mansion Loki had snuck them into. “This is nice,” Tony said. Just outside the windows there was a beach, bordered by a tropical landscape. He smiled, turning back to look at Loki. “I half expected you to choose the wildest place you could now that I’m not mortal.” 

“This is fine,” Loki said, collapsing on the closest couch. He conjured himself a drink and went right back to the lazy morning that he’d been having. He heard doors opening across the house as Tony explored. A half-hour later he saw Tony walk past the front windows, Andor and Brynjar running after him from several yards behind as he carried a large fishing net. Loki ended up falling back asleep. 

 

The first day stretched into several weeks. It was the longest they had ever stayed anywhere. In the afternoons Tony would disappear to engineer a rather complex system of fishing implements. He had begun cataloging the local marine life. More than once Loki heard him deep in conversation with Jarvis about bioengineering, but he didn’t ask about it. Tony was happier with a project. Often Tony was already gone working on it when he woke up. 

He had been sleeping later than Tony more and more. Often he fell asleep in the middle of the day, as if exhausted by something that had finally caught up with him. He had no complaints. If he wasn’t enjoying Tony’s new stamina or entertaining himself by being a nuisance, he had the pets to keep him occupied or spell work to create. Without Tony to watch over, he had more magic in his reserve, and could return to experimental magic without concern. Loki was utterly content. 

Perhaps it was this contentment that made Tony’s statement one night more upsetting than it should have been. 

Tony stirred his spoon through a bowl of stew several times. It clunked and clinked against the bowl’s edge. Loki was dropping bits of his own onto the floor, enjoying letting the rams fight over the chunks of meat. “You don’t touch me enough,” Tony said. 

Loki looked up from the floor, slightly wide-eyed in his surprise, and found that Tony was staring intently at him from across the table. Loki scoffed. “That mark on your neck says otherwise,” he said, fondly recalling the way he’d run his teeth along Tony’s skin just before the start of dinner. It had nearly vanished now, Tony’s body healing it swiftly, but there was still the faintest pink tinge. 

“That’s not what I mean,” Tony said. Loki turned defensive at the serious tone in his voice.

“What could you possibly yearn for?” Loki asked, tossing a starchy vegetable onto the floor for Brynjar and ignoring Tony. 

Tony breathed in loudly. He had set his spoon down and crossed his arms, watching Loki intently. “You used to check and make sure I wasn’t sick all of the time, and don’t try to deny it, I know you did. You’re not as sneaky as you think you are.” 

Loki blinked rapidly before glancing back at Tony, trying to assess what Tony was getting at. “Do you wish to be sick?” Loki tried, incredulous. “Surely you do not miss me pulling your failing form from the floor in the early hours of the morning?” Just the thought made Loki’s stomach tight. He had forgotten about doing that, lately. 

“No,” Tony said, a tiny grin appearing. He shook his head. “I mean I want you to touch me just because, like you did before, even though you’re not checking to make sure I’m not sick anymore. I don’t like it when you only do it because you want it to lead to sex.” Tony propped his leg up on the chair beside Loki, leaning the arch of his foot against the god’s thigh. “I like you touchy and needy.” 

“Certainly, Stark, if one of us is needy from that statement, it is you,” Loki shot back, bristling at the fond, lazy grin Tony was showering him with. 

“I’m not kidding,” Tony said. Loki flung the last chunks of his stew onto the floor. His face was turned from Tony, tilted towards the ground. “I miss it,” Tony said. Loki’s mouth flinched. Tony pushed his full bowl across the table, knowing damn well that Loki hadn’t eaten more than a bite of his own. “And what’s with the Sleeping Beauty act, huh? I’m the one that’s supposed to have terrible sleep habits. Are you feeling okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Loki said, combing his fingers through his hair. He stopped with his hand tangled in black locks, still staring down at the rams. “I am simply making up for a deficit of sleep.” He turned back towards the table and noticed the bowl in front of him. “I am perfectly capable of managing,” he asserted. 

“I know you are, asshole, just take the stew.” Tony scratched his beard and moved his other leg up onto the chair as Andor brushed past. “Everything tastes like cardboard to me right now anyway.” 

Something flickered in Loki’s eyes as he stared at Tony, but then his attention dropped down to the bowl. He began eating as if he had ordered Tony to give it to him in the first place. “One of these days we’re going to have to get our own place,” Tony said. “I don’t want a repeat of that witch. I keep thinking she’s going to pop around a corner.” 

Loki swallowed a warm spoonful. “The tower is in your possession, is it not?” 

“Yeah, but is that where you want to live forever? Besides, that’s going to get tricky. I’m not supposed to live in it a hundred years from now, remember? Anyway, I’m thinking somewhere with a little more technology. I haven’t seen anything here but trees and fish.” 

“That’s because this is largely abandoned,” Loki said. “Most of the population has left.” He took another heaping bite. 

“So is there an intergalactic real estate agent, or what?” Tony asked. He was not about to get into the history of whatever planet this was and let Loki get out of the conversation. “We need to look.” 

Loki picked at the bowl a few moments before begrudgingly admitting, “I am entitled to a few properties as a member of the Asgardian royal family…perhaps I can see about taking one.” 

“Great,” Tony said. “I want a new lab, one without Shield looming in the background, or Hydra, or whatever it is now. One that I can bring things into that no one will take interest in.” Loki nodded his head. He tuned out as Tony described all the fine details of the lab. “—so when are we going to Asgard?” It sprung Loki out of his daydream. 

Loki grinned to hide his displeasure. “I shall handle the engagements of my property alone,” he said. “I will return you to Midgard when I go.” 

“Loki,” Tony said. “How long are you going to hold it off?” 

Loki gave him a snide look. “Hold off what?” 

“Loki. I’m sure you didn’t get Daddy’s seal of approval on that apple. Might as well get it over with.” Loki’s lips twisted unpleasantly. He had been in denial about Tony’s awareness. Tony’s lack of questioning should’ve tipped him off that Tony already had it figured out. “Tear that bandaid off,” Tony said. “I can deal.” 

“Property first,” Loki said. His bowl was empty. “I can’t very well ask for it and admit to theft in the same visit, can I?” He asked, standing up from the table. 

“Good point,” Tony said. He grinned at Loki expectantly. 

“What?” Loki asked suspiciously. 

“You used to ‘accidentally’ touch my hand when you were taking my plate,” Tony said teasingly. 

Loki leaned over the table as if he was about to fulfill Tony’s request. He reached his hand towards Tony’s glass, but a second before his fingers made contact, he flicked Tony’s arm instead. “There,” he said. 

“You know, there are a lot of people that would just die to hear Tony Stark say they weren’t touching him enough.” 

“Perhaps one of them can put your things away then,” Loki said. He swaggered out of the room, two tiny rams following noisily. Tony sighed. He rubbed his arm where Loki had flicked him. It was a start, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone that gave input on mpreg in the last one! It was a lot for me to think about and very useful. I'm going to hold off on that decision for the time being.   
> ...this is one of those chapters where I wonder which of the two I end up writing more like who I'd identify with. :p Let me know if you have any suggestions/ideas for things in upcoming chapters. Thanks!


	29. Studies

“I suspect that I will not return for a few weeks,” Loki said, drawing out the words as he stared at Tony. His hand lingered on the back of a chair. Tony was toying with his tablet as he sat at the table.

“So what’re we going to get?” Tony asked, grinning widely. “A country estate? Dad’s old hunting grounds? Oh, a high-tech apartment in a metropolis!?” 

Loki bit down on his lip and blinked rapidly, hardly concealing his annoyance as he glared at a nearby wall. “Whatever they deign worthy of their forgotten son,” Loki said, laying the plea for pity on too thick for Tony’s sympathy. 

Tony flicked his hand to the side, sending one of the apps on his tablet flying. “You’ll be fine. And like I said before, I’d come, but somebody fed me contraband, so…” His full attention fell onto the tablet. Loki huffed out a little puff of air. It aggravated him to no end to be returning to Asgard, but Tony was right. A place of their own would benefit them both, and Loki knew that the property he could acquire through Asgard would be far favorable to whatever remote land could be taken freely or won. Asgard had privileges unlike other realms. 

“Then I should be taking you to Midgard now,” Loki said. His grip on the chair tightened. Tony’s head didn’t lift up from the tablet. 

“I need to take apart some experiments before we leave,” Tony said. “There’s no rush. Why don’t we wait a few days?” He tapped at something that emitted a high-pitched chime. When Tony tilted the pad forward, Loki saw that it was a brightly colored game. 

“So that you can play your nonsense?” Loki asked. Tony’s brow furrowed but he didn’t look up. 

“One, this is a great game, and you had the high score on it for three weeks so shut up. Two, let me get some things ready before we blow out of Gilligan’s Island. I want to make sure I bring back everything I need to process in the lab.” 

Loki drummed his fingers against the back of the chair. 

“Are you going to take the little demon seeds with you?” Tony asked. Several chimes sounded from the tablet. 

A spiteful little smile crawled up onto Loki’s face. “No.” 

Tony broke eye contact with the game to glance at Loki. Loki stood up taller, dropping his hand from the chair. “Perhaps you could use the time to bond with them.” 

“Bond with them. Right,” Tony said. “Like I need to bond with your stuffed animals.” 

“They are quite alive,” Loki reassured him. 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said. “That’s why they have a Cinderella moment and turn back if you don’t feed them meat.” 

“I already told you that it maintains the enchantment,” Loki said irritably. Tony had been questioning the rams far too often for his taste lately. “I will leave them in your care while you are on Midgard, and if you or your mortal companions see fit to displace the tiniest curl in their coats, it will be the last mistake you ever make. Are we clear?” 

Tony took in a long, deep breath. “Fine,” he said begrudgingly. Loki smirked triumphantly and then walked off into the other room. Tony let out the breath he’d been holding in and tried not to show any of the glee he felt on his face. Loki would be suspicious if Tony asked for the rams. It was better that Loki thought it was his own idea. 

“Go prepare your things,” Loki called from the other room. Tony set the tablet down just as Loki’s head popped around the corner. “Unless you have other ideas.” 

Tony just raised an eyebrow at that and Loki vanished again. Did he know that Tony was up to something? No. It couldn’t be. There was no reason for him to. A few seconds later he returned with an ornate green box and set it on the table. “I will be gone several weeks,” Loki said as he took off the lid. “I don’t suspect that their enchantment will wear off in the meantime, but I expect you to follow their feeding schedule regardless. Give them whatever meat you can procure according to this,” he said. He placed a small sage colored notebook in front of Tony. 

Tony flipped it open to see Loki’s narrow, scrawled cursive. “Brush them once a day,” Loki said, taking out a gold handled brush. 

“That’s bigger than they are,” Tony said. 

“By length, but the bristles are adequate,” Loki said. He set several toys on the table as well. Tony hadn’t seen the rams play with them once. He was certain that Loki had conjured the box and made up rules within the last five seconds. Loki took the things and neatly rearranged them back inside with careful, thoughtful movements. When he closed the lid he gave Tony a long, assured smile. “I will know if they are not cared for accordingly.” 

“Cool it,” Tony said. “You know I wouldn’t actually do anything to them.” He stood up from the table. 

“You should have plenty of time to bond with them,” Loki said. “I will be gone several weeks.” 

Tony gave Loki an odd look, but the god had already dismissed him. Loki had taken the tablet and was intent on beating Tony’s score. As Tony went to take apart his experiments and get things in order, he replayed Loki’s conversation in his head. _I will be gone several weeks._

Tony let out a laugh when he figured it out, scarring several tropical birds out of a nearby tree. “Of course I’ll miss you, dumbass,” Tony muttered as he pulled a net from the water. 

It took Tony several hours to get things ready, and by then it was dark. Loki was still playing the game on his tablet. His pale face was illuminated in the dim room. 

Tony walked over and took the tablet from his hands, straddling Loki’s lap as he set it on the table. “Don’t get any ideas when you’re in Asgard,” Tony whispered. He kissed Loki just to the side of his lips, and slowly teased his way to Loki’s eager mouth. 

Loki moaned as he felt Tony’s warm breath, his hot tongue leisurely exploring. He curled his fingers into the soft fabric of Tony’s shirt as Tony’s weight pressed down. 

When cool air hit his lips and Tony’s face receded just an inch, the man catching his breath for a moment, Loki felt the tension drain from him. He slid his fingers into the scruff of Tony’s brown hair. “No promises,” he said. 

Tony’s warm face, now richly tanned by the alien sun, softened with playful fondness. “I’ll be the one making promises then,” he said. Loki’s eyes sparked with intrigue as Tony leaned down to whisper against his ear. “I promise you’ll find out where this was going when you return, then.” 

Loki was still for a moment, his heart beating faster, before he shook with a laugh. Tony laughed too, grinning as he leaned back to see Loki’s face. “As if you would deny yourself the pleasure,” Loki said. Tony shrugged. 

“Guilty as charged,” he said. His lips were back at Loki’s throat a second later. He slid his hand down into Loki’s pants, teasing the aching god until his thick cock was firmly held in his hand, his mouth busy whispering dirty longings into a rapt ear. Loki’s breathing became short as Tony promised things, reveling in the way Loki tensed as he listened, long past his earlier threats. He came in Tony’s deft hand and felt the man’s lips spread into a smile against the delicate skin of his ear. 

Later, as Tony’s hands slid appreciatively into the god’s hair, Loki’s tongue toying with him before taking the length of him, Tony kept talking. Muttering all the things he would do when Loki returned, praising him, promising. Even after he had come and Loki was leisurely sucking at the skin of his neck, he spoke. Loki didn’t seem to mind. When they parted ways a few hours later, Loki’s eyes held an eager expectancy, and Tony knew he’d have promises to live up to when Loki got back. 

That was later, though. Tony looked around his dark tower bedroom with a heavy sigh. His things would be in the lab downstairs. The ram’s box was in his hand, and the two trouble makers were already on the loose. He heard one of them bleat as it smacked into the dresser and took off running again. 

Tony took a deep breath and turned around. Andor chewed on the dresser leg as Brynjar rolled himself on the carpet, his tiny legs flailing in the air. Tony promised himself he would figure out how the two worked before Loki returned. 

He had failed with the apple. He hadn’t expected Loki to have one ready, and there had been no time to take a sample. Loki had made certain that he had eaten every last bite. Tony had failed to figure out how it worked. 

With these two, however, he could study them to his heart’s content without Loki’s watchful eyes. Brynjar rolled back over and bleated loudly. He cried and cried until Andor came over and butted his head. Then they ran off towards the bathroom. “Sir,” Jarvis said. A tiny smile lifted up Tony’s lips. It felt good to hear Jarvis coming from the tower, not just his tablet. “Shall I ready the lab?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I’ll be down in a minute.” 

He dug through his things until he found an unopened protein bar. Tearing off a piece, Tony tossed it in the direction of the rams. They ran towards it instantly. Tony lured them with a trail into the elevator and carefully kept them occupied with bits until they arrived in the lab. Then he dropped the remaining chunk on the floor and stepped around them. 

The brightly lit lab spun to life around him. His previous work was waiting for him on the far wall, and Jarvis already had screens projecting the design plan for his new project. “Are there any supplies I need to order in?” Tony asked, walking to the far end of the lab. 

“Miraculously, no,” Jarvis answered. 

“Great,” Tony said, grabbing a large sheet of glass. “Blare some music for me, Jarv. Anything.” 

Two hours and one fire extinguisher incident later, Tony had a perfectly constructed pen for the rams in place. He had even taken the liberties of giving it astroturf and a miniature house. “Alright,” Tony said. “Into your new home.” 

Brynjar came to his hand after some coaxing and half a pack of dried blueberries. Tony plopped him inside the enclosure. “Your turn,” Tony told the other one. 

Andor only watched Tony lazily from the white fluff of the extinguisher he’d torn a hole in. “I’m getting a net,” Tony said after watching him for a minute. 

Capturing the ram was easy, but lowering him into the enclosure was not. Andor ate three holes in the net before Tony successfully deposited him inside. Tony collapsed in his computer chair and recomposed himself for a few minutes. 

“Run the scans,” Tony said eventually, wiping his arm across his forehead. 

“Already in progress,” Jarvis said. 

Tony wheeled himself a little closer to the pen with his feet. “If you’re possible,” Tony muttered, “then what else is?” Brynjar rolled onto his back and fell asleep as Andor gnawed on a water bowl. Tony let out a loud sigh. He watched them until he drifted off. 

He woke up in the morning still in his chair. 

After a wave of panic, he sat up to see the two rams, happily ignoring him within the cage. “That’s something,” Tony said. Stretching his stiff neck, he got up and proceeded to scare the shit out of Steve by appearing unexpectedly in the kitchen. 

“I don’t know what to think about that,” Steve said later, when Tony brought him into the lab. “I don’t know if you can actually create life, Tony. Maybe it’s just a very good spell.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, “but why is that?” He leaned down closer to the glass, studying them for the hundredth time. “How does it work?”

“Doesn’t Loki know?” 

“He says it’s magic,” Tony said. “He doesn’t think the same way. It doesn’t seem strange to him, it’s all a series of spells that fit requirements and rituals. I want to understand the mechanics of those spells.” Tony rested his hand against the glass. “I want to understand how it manipulates life.” 

Steve took a seat by the glass enclosure. He talked to Tony about other things until Natasha came into the lab. She thought nothing of taking the brush from the box and using it on Andor. Tony watched in shock for a minute. “Hey, do you want to do that everyday?” 

Natasha smiled to one side. “Why? Do I look like your pet sitter?” 

“Come on Natasha, I’ll…I’ll give you something. Work with me here. How about a car?” 

Natasha grinned. She brushed Andor until he fell asleep, then followed suit with Brynjar. “No,” she said finally. Tony pouted behind her until the doors opened and Bruce walked in. Then he was talking a mile a minute again. 

It didn’t take long for it to become the daily ritual. Everyone would come downstairs to see if Tony had figured something new out, and if he hadn’t passed out somewhere in the lab he talked himself out on theories. Then the conversation would drift to life outside the tower as they sat around the enclosure, watching the rams and talking. Every time Tony thought he would tell them about the apple. 

Two weeks passed and Tony still hadn’t told them.


	30. Welcome Home

“I’ll owe you one,” Tony said. Bruce rolled his eyes with a sardonic little smile. 

“When is that not the case?” He asked. Tony had to agree. 

He rolled his chair over so that he was staring up at Bruce. “Seriously though,” Tony said, accentuating too much with his hands, “he gets really bent out of shape when he gets back from Asgard. The Hulk might want to make an appearance on his sulking alone.” 

Mildly amused Bruce answered, “I don’t think that Loki wants to see him, so I think we’ll be fine.” 

Tony eyed him skeptically, but relented at Bruce’s confidence. He pushed his chair with his feet so that he flew back towards the ram’s enclosure. He caught himself as he came in line with the little monsters. “I need a lot more time,” Tony said, staring despondently through the glass. “The complexity is incredible,” he said appreciatively, “but god are they a pain in the ass.” 

“Yeah. Well,” Bruce said. He walked over and leaned his arms against the top of the tank, staring down. Neither of them bothered Bruce in the slightest. They were absolutely tame in his presence. Whether it was Loki’s influence or that they just had an innate sense of Bruce’s other guy was up for debate. “You can still study them when he gets back.” 

Tony made a face and let his forehead fall against the glass. 

Bruce reached in and picked up Andor, who stayed absolutely still. “What are you going to do if you figure them out?” He asked carefully. Andor closed his eyes as Bruce brushed his fur with his thumb. 

Tony sighed as he leaned off the glass. “I’ve seen enough sci-fi. I know better than to carelessly create something. I’m not trying to make some Frankenstein Halloween special. I just…” Tony toyed with the bracelet on his wrist. “Am curious.” Andor mewed with uncertainty as Bruce set him back down. “They don’t just come to life. They prolong the life they’re given. Maybe I can figure out how it’s extended.” 

Bruce was quiet for a moment before he padded away and grabbed a computer chair. The wheels squeaked as he rolled it over to Tony. Bruce gently took a seat. “It’s okay,” he said. “That you want to live longer like Loki, just don’t hurt yourself in an experiment, alright?” Bruce picked up the brush that had been set by the cage and tapped it against his palm as he spoke. “Don’t be reckless.” 

Tony stared down at the floor. Guilt flooded his senses. He hadn’t told them. He just wasn’t ready to. He knew they would figure it out eventually, when he stopped aging or took a hit too well. “I just want to figure out the mechanics,” Tony said. “It pisses me off that it’s called _magic_.” 

“No it doesn’t,” Bruce said, entertained. “You want to be the one to figure out _magic_. You can call it applied science now, but we both know that the minute you figured it out you’d be calling it magic.” 

Unable to hide the telling grin on his face, Tony rolled back over to the computer desk. “Remember,” he said, watching the screen for the one experiment that hadn’t completed, “go according to the plan.” 

“Yeah. Got it,” Bruce said. He went over to the couch and laid down, closing his eyes. “Just wake me up if you need me.” 

“Hopefully I won’t,” Tony said, eyes on the screen. Five hours and it would be complete, and even if Tony hadn’t figured it all out, he was further than he had been before. In the meantime, Tony went back to the other experiment he’d been working on. Holding a bag of treats in one hand he whistled for the rams to come. They learned so much faster than Tony had thought possible. 

 

With half an hour to go on the experiment, Tony was wrapped up in redesigning some of Stark Industry’s latest tech. He claimed it was for his pride, since he hardly had a hand in the business and was on Shield’s radar anyway, but it was more out of an affection for the company he’d built. Bruce had woken up and taken one of Tony’s tablets, where he was systematically beating all of Tony’s high scores. 

A loud bang sounded. The lab doors flew open, gray and black smoke billowing in. Sharp footsteps emerged from the cloud as Tony slumped down to his desk. 

Bruce coughed loudly, drawing Loki’s attention from the hunched form of Tony Stark. “Be quiet,” Bruce said calmly. He got up from the couch and walked within a few feet of Loki, noticing that the showy smoke vanished entirely as he did. “He’s up to his usual workshop binges,” Bruce said quietly. Loki’s long, black Asgardian garb swayed with him as he shifted on his feet and cast a pinched but worried look in Tony’s direction. “This is the first time he’s slept in forty-eight hours. Let’s give him some room. You know how he gets.” 

Loki’s astute eyes slid towards Bruce. “And you thought it acceptable to indulge his foolish behavior?” 

Bruce raised his chin, letting a flicker of green show in his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. “Are you really going to wake him?” 

Loki looked away with obvious chagrin. Bruce seized the opportunity. “Anyway, I’d like to talk. Let’s go upstairs.” Loki perked with intrigue at Bruce’s invitation. He had always enjoyed insight into the mortal’s mind. Following Bruce’s lead, he uncrossed his arms and left the room.

Heart pounding, Tony sat up from the keyboard. Eighteen minutes. Bruce had to entertain him for eighteen minutes and then the experiment and data would be done. Tony got up and began triple checking his backups. Finally, it finished processing. 

Tony’s eyes leapt back and forth across the report before a long, disappointed groan ripped free of his throat. A text message from Bruce came in right as he began to swear. _You really owe me._ “I’m sure,” Tony muttered. He glowered at the screen. The last series of experiments had been a waste. 

 

Bruce had fallen asleep twice since Loki had started talking, and that didn’t upset him in the slightest. It meant that he missed the intervals on Asgard’s history that Loki seemed to think he should know. It offended him that Bruce did not, and Bruce had only found that funny for the first five minutes. 

It appeared that Loki and Tony had something in common, although Loki’s chattiness seemed to derive from spite. He knew that Bruce was dozing off and still didn’t stop. Bruce gave up analyzing him and just thought about his weekend plans instead. 

Finally, when he’d endured enough he stood up. “I just wanted to ask how things were,” Bruce said. “That was…unrelated and exceptionally thorough.” 

“Is it my fault if you cannot follow the threads?” Loki asked. He stood up, dusting himself off as if Bruce’s furniture was dirty. “I entrust that aside from your present failure, Tony fared well?” 

“Yeah,” Bruce said. Loki picked at a string on his sleeve. “It seems like he’s been well,” Bruce said generically, walking towards the elevator to leave. 

Loki flinched for half a second, then stood taller, glaring at Bruce. “You would dare to imply that he is not?” Loki asked, continuing an argument that had never started. “I cannot help it if he wishes for an eternity with me.” 

Immediately Bruce’s mind flashed to junior high notebooks decorated with hearts and the last names of crushes attached to the owner’s. “I didn’t imply anything,” Bruce said. So Loki knew that Tony wanted to figure out a way to stay with him. He rubbed at his temple. He didn't want to poke at Loki’s issues with a mile long stick. “We should go check if he’s awake now. I’m sure he’s glad you’re back.” 

Loki glanced at him, deciding whether to continue arguing, then seemed to think better of it. “There is no need to trouble yourself,” he said and vanished in a cloud of smoke. 

Again the lab doors flew up with billowing clouds of smoke. This time, Tony turned around from the computer desk. “Don’t do that,” Tony said, eyes lighting up as Loki strode towards him. “I can’t tell that it’s you without the usual green.” 

Loki didn’t have a snarky comeback. He just bent down and took Tony’s mouth with a possessive kiss, sucking his bottom lip against sharp teeth. As he pulled back, his eyes were rife with chaos and unprocessed emotion. Tony’s fingers gently squeezed against his waist. “I missed you,” Tony said. “And so did they.” 

He nodded his head towards the enclosure, smiling pridefully. Andor and Brynjar were pressed to the glass, watching. Loki stood up, a little dumbstruck at first. The rams squealed as he walked over. “You,” Loki said, setting his fingers against the top of the glass. “Made this?” 

“Yeah. As it turns out, the lab isn’t the safest place for them,” Tony said, joining him. He leaned against Loki’s side as he rested his forearms against the top of the glass. “This way they’re safe, and the lab’s safe, and everyone keeps their limbs.” 

Loki reached down and scooped up both of the rams. They immediately started purring. He was silent as he stared intently, checking. “You did as I asked,” he said quietly, setting them back down. They mewed for his attention but he turned and looked at Tony. 

Then he burst into tears. Not loud, hiccuping tears, but wordless ones that rolled down his crumbling face. “Oh shit,” Tony said, sucking in a breath. He grabbed Loki and pulled him in. Loki was oddly compliant, with limp muscles and a sinking posture. “You knew I would, right? Wow, I feel like shit, you know I wouldn’t actually hurt them—”

“It’s not that,” Loki said. His voice was level, but only because he restrained it with a whisper. He wrapped his limp arms low down Tony’s back. 

“Alright,” Tony said, pressing him tight against his chest. “Then…?” 

Loki didn’t say anything. Tony reached up and brushed a hand down the side of his face. “It was bad, huh?” Tony asked quietly. Loki let a little more of his weight fall into Tony. He still hadn’t quite adjusted to the change in how much Tony could handle. 

“In a word, yes,” Loki muttered. Tony walked backward, pulling Loki with him to the chair. He sat down and let Loki collapse against him. Tony’s fingers combed through his hair. “They are self-righteous fools that think nothing of my will,” Loki said. “I would have been better served speaking my wishes to a slab of granite.” 

Tony pressed a kiss to his neck. “It’s alright,” Tony said. “We have places to stay.” 

“I acquired the property,” Loki said immediately. “That was no trouble.” 

Tony’s head fell back against the chair as he stared into Loki’s eyes. “They found out about me,” he said. 

“No,” Loki said. Tony took a deep breath. He wondered if Loki could feel his anxiety. Loki was tightly spun and erratic, and it wasn’t reassuring him. “I loathe Asgard,” Loki muttered. He rested his head against Tony to where he could still look inside the glass enclosure. His eyes followed the pacing rams. “Thank you,” he whispered. Tony felt all of Loki’s weight settle down against him. 

Tony’s hand stilled in his hair. “For what?” 

An answer didn’t come. Loki watched the rams as Tony’s fingers brushed over his scalp repeatedly. Tony’s body heat was uncomfortable, but he ignored it as another hot tear rolled down his cheek. “Let’s go to bed,” Tony said, making the effort to stand up. “Sleep it off.” 

Tony struggled to hold up Loki’s weight, but this time his height was making the difference. “Come on,” Tony said, trying to guide him towards the elevator. 

Instead, Loki magicked them away to his bedroom. He collapsed into the bed. Tony took one step forward and knocked his toe into something metallic. 

Looking down, Tony saw that the floor was covered in presents. They were the same gifts that Loki always came back from Asgard with. Tony heard an impatient throat being cleared and glanced up to see Loki waiting expectantly. “What’s with the swag bag?” Tony asked, kicking his shoes off. 

“Trifles,” Loki dismissed them. He grabbed Tony the moment the man’s knees touched the bed. Pulling Tony’s back into his chest and tucking their legs together, he closed his eyes. 

Tony’s attention hadn’t left the floor. This was more than Loki usually came back with, and Tony knew that some of the gifts were far more than trifles. Loki had pridefully bragged of them upon other times. He wasn’t aware of the frustrated sigh that left his lips. 

“What?” Loki demanded. 

Tony pried himself from Loki’s arm and rolled over. Their legs tangled as Tony faced him. “I’m trying to piece together how you getting the land you wanted and all this crap fits with you being miserable,” Tony said. He set his hand on Loki’s bicep and kneaded the tensing muscle. 

After a heartbeat or two, Loki answered, “Allow me to ‘sleep it off.” He rolled over and pushed his back into Tony’s chest. He held his breath as he waited for Tony’s arm to finally wrap around him. 

Tony’s hand settled over his sternum. “I’m still going to ask in the morning,” Tony muttered. 

“I know,” Loki replied. 

“Good,” Tony said. Loki’s heel bumped against his shin in reply, but Tony let the kick go. Despite Loki’s mood, he was glad to have him back. He didn’t prefer empty beds, or being allowed to win every argument, or even the absence of Loki’s demanding voice. Tony pulled him closer and fell asleep. 

 

“That’s disappointing,” Bruce said as Tony showed him the file. “I listened to all of that for nothing.” 

“I think he was making up for not being listened to,” Tony muttered. It was the best guess that he’d come up with. He set food down into the enclosure. Upstairs, Loki was still sleeping, and Tony had left breakfast on the bedside table for him before disappearing to the lab. “So,” Tony said brightly. “Can I sweet talk you into getting him to reveal these guys secrets? Maybe you can get him to talk about it in a different way.” 

Bruce licked his lip. “I think you should let it go.” He tapped at the glass. Brynjar rolled over onto his stomach. “You’ve tried everything we can think of. Maybe the technology just isn't there yet.” 

“But it is somewhere,” Tony said. 

“Maybe,” Bruce said, shrugging. “There are other things to obsess over.” He reached into his back pocket and checked that he had his wallet. “Let’s go out for breakfast. I’m tired of staring at these walls.” It did not take much prompting for Tony to agree. 

 

When Tony got back he found Loki with his hand hanging over the side of the enclosure, Andor and Brynjar chasing the treat between his fingers in frantic circles. “When’d you wake up?” Tony asked, noting that Loki’s bedhead and pajamas were still present. 

“Earlier,” Loki said. He dropped the biscuit and ambled over to him. Tony smelled of cooking grease and coffee as he wrapped his arms around him. Tony had to catch his weight. 

“How much earlier?” Tony asked. 

“A little earlier,” Loki answered. He jostled in Tony’s arms as Tony tried accommodating him. His eyes fell shut. “You didn’t bring me with you.” 

“And wake you up? No way,” Tony said. A lazy, toothy grin spread across Loki’s face. “Which, by the way, I’m not your bed.” 

“No?” Loki asked as Tony wavered. 

“No,” Tony said. 

Loki hummed a note of surprise as he stood up. He took a few languid steps over to the couch and slumped back down. Then he held his arms open. Tony hesitated for a moment. 

“I think I’m going to mark this as mood number three,” Tony said as he crawled over him. Loki’s arms encircled him as he propped his chin on Loki’s chest. The god was pretending to be asleep. “Which, by the way, Jarvis is going to back me up the next time I say you’re moody post-Asgard.” Loki’s finger pressed against his lips. 

“You are calling into question why I missed you dearly,” Loki said. 

“Oh?” Tony asked, wiggling his way up a little higher on Loki’s chest. “You did?” Loki smirked but pinched Tony an instant later. Tony yelped and tried to pull back. 

Loki carded his fingers through Tony’s hair. “Make me lunch.” 

“No,” Tony said. He shook free of Loki’s grip and sat up. “Make your own.” He looked disappointed rather than playful. Loki immediately sat up. 

Loki ran his fingers down the sides of Tony’s neck, massaging the tight muscles on his back. “Then allow me,” he said, pressing a kiss to the hollow of his neck. 

“You?” Tony asked. He tried not to grin as Loki’s apologetic lips worked along his collarbone. 

Pleased, Loki’s hands combed back through Tony’s hair. “Yes,” he said. He moved to get off the couch. Tony’s hand caught his wrist. 

“I like where this is going, and don’t stop me if we’re five minutes from getting laid, but tell me you're alright.” 

Loki turned back around. Relaxed, he said, “I am.” 

He adjusted Tony’s grip on his wrist so that he was the one pulling Tony off the couch. The moment Tony was on his feet they were standing in the kitchen. Loki grabbed eggs from the fridge as Tony noticed with relief that no one else was in there. The stovetop roared to life behind him. 

Somehow, Loki talked Tony into standing in front of him as his arms came around and worked the stove. He rested his chin on Tony’s shoulder as he cracked eggs and made a stir fry. “I am so pleased you took it,” Loki murmured. He kissed the side of Tony’s neck and let go of the pan to wrap his arms around Tony’s stomach. “Whatever their retribution is means nothing to me.”

Tony leaned his head back. “They don’t know yet, though,” he said. 

“No,” Loki confirmed. He released Tony to grab plates. 

“I haven’t told them either,” Tony said. 

Loki spooned the stir fry onto their plates. “Your comrades?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He grabbed a plate from Loki and pulled silverware from a drawer. As they sat down his brow set with resolution. “I want to be with you when you tell Asgard.” 

Loki bit his lip. He had taken the seat beside Tony, and momentarily the man’s hand rested on his thigh. “Alright,” he said. 

“No take backs,” Tony said. He shoveled a forkful into his mouth. Loki’s fingers found their way back into his hair. 

“It will be a way into the future,” Loki said quietly. He let go of Tony and began eating. 

“So what did you get? A beach house?” Tony asked cheerfully. A tiny smile curled up Loki’s lips.

“I suppose it depends on which one you’re speaking of,” Loki replied. 

“Don’t tell me,” Tony said. “I want it to be a surprise.” 

“What is the fun in that?” Loki joked. He let Tony make guesses for the rest of breakfast. When they finally got up, Tony was content to let him wrap his arms around and cling to him. He knew it was only a matter of time before the mood shifted again. 

“I could live with this,” Tony said as he dropped their plates into the sink with Loki’s arms around his waist. 

“Good,” Loki said into his shoulder.


	31. A Braid and Interest

“Do not begin at the roots,” Loki ordered. He caught Tony’s hand and moved it with the gilded comb to the bottom section of his hair. “This requires far more patience and finesse than your own, I’m afraid.” 

Tony mocked him, moving his mouth wordlessly and exaggerating his expressions as he took a handful of Loki’s hair. Loki could not see him from his spot seated on the floor, leaning his back against the bed with Tony’s legs on either side. “Use this,” Loki demanded. He materialized a heavy glass spray bottle and held it up in his hand for Tony to take. 

Tony had to set the comb down to grab it. He didn’t know how he’d been coerced into combing Loki’s hair. Well, no, he did. He was almost always agreeable after sex, and in the hazy afterglow he hadn’t thought much of mumbling a yes into the pillow as Loki twined his fingers through his hair and made the request. 

It was a trick that had worked more than once. Alright, almost every time. Especially if it involved a blow job as this time had, Tony mused, as the comb jammed in a tangle. “That’s what the spray is for,” Loki lectured him. 

“I’m going to tie the whole thing in a knot,” Tony said. 

“Go ahead,” Loki said, letting the threat sing in his voice. Some of the spray hit him in the face as Tony doused his hair with it. “Stark.” 

“Loki,” Tony said. Loki glowered a half second, thinking twice of his request as he mentally burned a hole in Tony’s ceiling. They’d moved into Tony’s bedroom since his was still littered with gifts and they hadn’t left the tower yet. “God. Your hair’s gotten so long,” Tony said. 

Loki’s eyes fell closed as the comb slowly worked its way up through his hair. He liked having Tony’s attention focused only on him. It was difficult to pin Tony down for more than a minute. The man’s mind was always frantically hopping from one activity to the next. Loki leaned into the comb and Tony’s methodical motions. “Perhaps you should allow your hair to do the same.” 

“Not happening,” Tony said. His thumb slid up Loki’s neck as he guided him to lean his head to the side. “It’d get in the way of my work and you like it anyway.” 

“Yes,” Loki agreed. “But on Asgard it denotes a certain status. You will be better received with it longer.” 

Tony pulled the comb past his temples. “And we care about what they think now?” 

Loki dug his finger down into the carpet as Tony dragged the comb along his scalp. “…they won’t ever find us favorable.” 

Tony held the spray bottle beside him to take. The heavy glass sunk into the palm of Loki’s hand. He set it on the floor. Tony combed aimlessly for a couple of minutes, lost in thought. “So?” Tony said finally. He dropped the comb onto the bed and began sectioning Loki’s hair to make a braid. “It’s just one shitty family reunion, Loki, and everyone yells at each other until someone walks out or the night is over and then it’s done. And you’ll have me there. It’ll be fine. They don't have to like it. They’ll just have to deal with it.” 

“But the retribution—”

Tony let out a sharp sigh. “I know you stole the apple with a consequences be damned attitude because the alternative seemed worse to you, but you have to think your plans through to the end.” Tony pulled the braid tight. “You knew they were always going to be assholes about it, that’s why you didn’t tell them in the first place.” 

“Are you trying to tear it from my skull? I’m not entirely sure you know how to make a plait—”

“Don’t insult me,” Tony said. “They’re easy to make and I know I’m not pulling too hard.” 

Loki grinned to one side. He let himself have the smile, since Tony couldn’t see it. He’d been caught and he knew it. 

“They can’t change what’s happened and I won’t let them do anything to you,” Tony said. “We’ll be fine.”

“It’s not me I worry for,” Loki half-mumbled. He felt Tony’s hand brush past his shoulder blade. 

“Give me a hair tie,” Tony said. He held out his hand. Loki materialized a deep emerald band. “They won’t do anything to me,” Tony said. “Thor has my back and it’d be a political nightmare anyway.” He finished off the tie. Loki reached back and grabbed the braid. He fidgeted his fingers through it. Reading him, Tony wrapped his legs across Loki’s chest. “Tell me about what happened when you were there.” 

The frame of the bed dug into Loki’s spine. He rocked against it and Tony’s legs to no avail. The comb fell from the bed onto the floor beside him. “What is there to tell?” Loki asked. Even to his own ears his voice sounded bitter. 

“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Tony said. 

He squeezed Tony’s foot but got no reaction, even when he attempted to tease the otherwise ticklish skin. When he gave up on that he turned and looked back over his shoulder. Tony was staring at him with stubborn resolution. 

Loki huffed out a breath and turned back around. “It was not a singular incident,” he said. He brushed his fingers over the curve of muscle on Tony’s leg. “It is…the endurance of their mockery that I find most difficult to disregard.” He relaxed a little as he felt Tony’s hands knead at the base of his neck and along his shoulders. “After so long an absence and…your company…I do not have the patience for them I once did.” 

Tony’s fingertips grazed over his collar bone from behind as he begrudgingly shared the words lurking deep in his chest. “It is quite a torture to entertain them now when I…know a life such as ours. Their games no longer intrigue me. Your absence was felt profoundly.” 

He felt Tony’s lips press against the top of his head. Tony’s warm hands paused on his shoulders. “Did someone say something to you?” Loki felt a warmth pool in his stomach at the protectiveness in Tony’s voice. 

“That I have failed my position, dishonored the realm, gone gallivanting like the irresponsible trickster I am? No, nothing aside from the usual yapping.” Loki closed his eyes. “I rather think the reason I was given the properties without trouble was in the dull hope that I may return and be of service to Asgard.” He dropped his hands into his lap. “I do not have the same thirst for Asgard that I once did. It feels rather like a dying, decaying creature to me now.” 

Tony rubbed at his eye. He had been listening carefully, and he didn’t want to lose the conversation before Loki grew bored of it. “So those gifts upstairs are…” 

“An incentive? Peace offering? Perhaps.” Loki reached back and grabbed Tony’s idle hand, directing it to begin kneading muscle again. “Though their words suggest otherwise. I rather view them as the work of a guilty conscience.” 

“You really think they’re going to ask you back? To do what?” Tony asked, curious. “When they tried imprisoning you in the first place? When they feel guilty?” 

“It is not like that,” Loki said. “I am…as deplorable as I am in Asgard’s eyes, I am still a member of the royal family, and as such, I have value. They would rather I be serving them before anything else, no matter what form that takes. Even imprisonment is more honorable. I am meant to be under their direction, not free like this. It is an issue of power. I am not sure your realm’s culture can understand.” 

“I understand that I’m not going to let them make you do anything you don’t want to,” Tony said. Loki smirked as the man’s arms came around him. Tony leaned down and tucked his head against Loki. “Worry doesn’t look good on you.” 

Loki grabbed Tony’s forearm and held it as he spoke. “This,” he said quietly. “Had I not known this, and still lived only in the way of Asgard, I would be quite miserable Tony.” Tony pulled him in a little tighter. “And be none the wiser for it.” 

“Yeah, well, a shitty environment can do that to you,” Tony said gently. 

Loki grinned. Since when had he allowed himself to feel, let alone show, such sentiment? Tony’s staying had allowed for it. Perhaps even, under separate circumstances, it would have been his natural inclination. He brushed his finger across Tony’s arm, causing the short hairs to stand on end. “Does it not strike you as odd,” he said, voice taking on an entirely different tempo, “that Thor carries an object that deigns him worthy, refuses him during a time of his error, and then takes him back and refuses all others?” Loki’s finger tapped against Tony’s skin. “An object which claims to be wielded only by the worthy, that none other can carry, as if Thor is some deification of all that is good and worthy?” 

Tony made an indifferent sound. He didn’t even want to start on how frustrating that side of magic was to his mental landscape. “I don’t even want to touch that one,” Tony said. Loki turned in his arms, fixing him with vivid green eyes. 

“It hasn’t any meaning,” Loki said. “I thought that it did, but it is a lie, as is much on Asgard. There is no Mjolnir deeming souls worthy of its wielding.” Tony’s hand brushed over the finely combed hairs on his head. “It is attuned to Thor, by the All-father’s wishes, with exceptions according to his capriciousness. There is no inherit worthiness.” Loki let out a derisive huff. “I was a fool to believe it was.” 

“That happened, huh,” Tony said. Loki rested his chin on the edge of the bed. 

His eyes became distant as he spoke, though his voice was no less articulate. “How long did I let that torment me?” Loki asked quietly. “How long did I let them hold worthiness over me, raising it beyond my reach each time I stretched a little further?” Tony’s hands resumed their stroking. “How long did I try living up to their lie?” Loki asked. His eyes became glossy. Neither of them remarked on the tear that slid down his face. 

“I can’t tell you how long I spent trying the same for my father,” Tony said quietly. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.” 

“And they call me liar,” Loki said. “How have they the right?” 

Tony’s feet slid down his back and he leaned harder into the bed, closer to Tony. “It was as if I saw Asgard truly as it was for the first time. It never occurred to me,” Loki said, “how truly little they care for my opinion. I am separate.” 

“Are you okay with that?” Tony asked, keeping his voice neutral. 

Loki tilted his head so that it laid flat against the bed. “Not yet. But…I am—perhaps one day,” he said quietly. Tony’s fingernails brushed along his scalp. They sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. Tony’s lips pressed against his temple again. 

“I do believe,” Loki said, rising up off the floor and wrapping his arms around Tony’s shoulders, “that you complained of my not touching you enough.” 

His weight fell back with Tony onto the bed. “I remember saying something like that,” Tony said. 

“Hmm,” Loki said, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe this can begin to make up for that.” He turned his head to the side on Tony’s chest, enjoying the steady rise and fall. 

“Maybe,” Tony said. “But you’ve got a lot to make up for.” He rested his arms against Loki’s back. “And you were gone for a few weeks, so to add up for all of that time…” 

“Ah,” Loki said. “But were you not absent for me as well?” 

“Doesn’t count,” Tony declared. 

“And why ever not?” 

“Because I said so,” Tony said. Loki laughed against his stomach. “So to add to that, and with interest…” 

“Interest?” Loki asked. “Whatever makes you think you have the right to charge interest?” 

“Interest is fifty percent,” Tony said. 

“And what is the grand total?” Loki asked. He leaned up to watch Tony’s face as he thought the figure over. 

“Well it’s definitely a lot,” Tony started. 

“Extortionist,” Loki muttered. He pulled Tony further up the bed so that his legs no longer dangled off the edge, then laid back over him. Tony’s protests were cut short by Loki’s finger at his lips. “If you chatter it counts as triple for me.” 

“You like my chatter,” Tony said defensively. 

“Perhaps,” Loki said indifferently. “Are you willing to test the theory?” 

Tony dropped his head against the bed with a sigh. “Not right now.” 

“As I thought,” Loki said. 

Tony grinned as they fell silent. He let his hands roam the familiar map of Loki’s spine, dipping into ribs and across soft flesh to the occasional soft sound. He would charge interest for sure.


	32. Movie Night

“What’re you two assholes arguing about?” Natasha asked nonchalantly, wedging her way in-between their chests. She yanked open the kitchen drawer they’d been blocking, inadvertently elbowing Tony in the stomach. 

Tony and Loki shared a brief glance over her head. 

Natasha grabbed a spoon. Tony and Loki stepped back before she turned around. “You invaded my bubble,” Tony complained. 

“You were in the way,” she said. Tony drew his arms out from himself in a circle, demonstrating the bubble’s area. “Pop,” Natasha said, tapping the spoon on the perimeter. Tony gasped in mock offense. “You two can go back to arguing now,” said Natasha. 

Loki was watching her closely. Nothing surprised him of the window any longer. He had learned that it was better to be perpetually weary. Tony, on the other hand, had no sense of self-preservation. “We weren’t arguing,” Tony said. “We were having creative differences.” 

“Over what?” Natasha asked. She walked over to the table and pried open the lid of a chocolate gelato pint she’d set there. 

“Really? And I thought you were supposed to be the observant one.” The thought that he’d finally gotten one past her lit his whole face up. “Someone’s going to have to go back to spy school, don’t you think?” 

Natasha snorted rather than laughed. She sat down at the table and ate from the container, clearly amused. 

Tony waggled his eyebrows towards Loki, taunting him. Loki’s face slid from its reserved mask as he scoffed in reply. “She didn’t notice,” Tony said. “That’s certifiable evidence that it’s pointless.” 

The god’s head turned in her direction, but Natasha answered without looking up. “Oh? Was it about the biker ponytail? I was trying to show mercy by not saying anything.” 

Tony’s mouth comically dropped open as Loki’s pulled back into a displeased grimace. “Jarvis,” Tony said. “I think I’m going to need you to call in some ice for that burn.” 

“There is some in the freezer,” Jarvis reminded him dully as Natasha burst into laughter. 

“Give me some credit,” Natasha said. “Compared to changing _bodies_ , this is pretty boring. Which, by the way,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye, “Clint was super into.” 

“Was he?” Tony asked. Natasha nodded her head as she took another spoonful. A cocky grin beamed from Tony’s face as he glanced over at Loki. “I think I need to go visit him.” 

“Stark,” Loki said, fighting back the amusement in his own voice. “You were inept in that body. Do you truly feel the need to embarrass yourself in front of Barton?” 

“Embarrass? I was hot,” Tony said pridefully. “I should’ve rubbed it in Clint’s face more.” Loki rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, but there was no bite to it. 

“So creative differences,” Natasha said. “I assume that means you’re not keeping it?” 

Their expressions dimmed for a moment before Tony spoke over the discomfort. “Yeah. See, Loki? She hates it. It looks completely ridiculous, and it gets in the way, and it’s heavy, god, I don’t know how you manage to turn your head—”

“As if the matters of Midgard concern us,” Loki said. “It would be quite desirable on Asgard.” 

“Let’s just count it as a failed experiment,” Tony said seriously. 

“No,” Loki said. He pursed his lips to the side. “Now what would you call it, Stark? A prototype?” He snapped his fingers. Tony’s hair morphed into its familiar choppy scruff of brown. “This was simply a failed prototype.” 

Tony glared at him. “So you do pay attention.” 

“Sometimes,” Loki said. 

A sharp click sounded as Natasha snapped the gelato container closed. She tossed the spoon across the room where it clattered in the sink. “We’re watching a movie downstairs in fifteen minutes. Are you coming?” 

“Sure,” Tony said. He heard Loki sigh behind him. Natasha nodded and dropped down from her seat on the table. “Do I get to pick this time?” 

“No,” Natasha said. “We don’t need a repeat of last time.” She tossed the gelato back into the freezer. “Steve’s already picked.”

Tony groaned. “I can’t sit through him working down AFI’s top 100 list.” 

“He finished that a couple of months ago. The movie is something that came out when you were gone,” Natasha said. “You haven’t even seen the trailer for it, so no whining.” Tony exaggerated his disdain as Natasha smirked and disappeared into the elevator. 

Tony spun to face Loki. “You’re coming,” he said. Loki laughed. 

“And whatever for?” 

“First of all, you watch like, fifty movies whenever we come here. Don’t even try to deny it. Given enough time you’d turn into a complete film snob. And besides that,” Tony said, leaning back against the kitchen counter. “Sitting on the couch with me is way more fun than sulking in your room.” 

“I do not sulk,” Loki said. 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said briskly. “Movie night means drinking and couch cuddles. It’s a win-win.” Loki’s face twisted into something condescending and bemused as Tony started walking towards the elevator. “Or play with Brynjar and Andor instead. I’ll just be alone with Clint, and I may not have the hocus pocus you do but I do have a credit card that can buy a brown wig. Or you can make it long again.” 

“I doubt that’ll have the same appeal to Barton,” Loki said. Tony shrugged playfully. 

“I guess we’ll find out,” he said. 

He practically sashayed to the elevator before vanishing with a challenging smirk alone, but ten minutes later Loki was cornering him into the couch, stretching out to steal as much room as possible. “Keep it clean kids,” Bruce droned towards them as he took the adjacent seat. 

“Yes sir,” Tony shot back at him. Bruce shook his head with a grin as Steve started the movie. The light in the room faded as the soundtrack began. Tony twisted the cap off of a beer from the fridge. After the second sip he settled on it being flat and bland, just like so many other things that had changed taste since the apple. 

Loki reached across Tony and grabbed a slender blue glass bottle. Tony recognized it from Loki’s Asgardian gift stash. Breaking a wax seal, Loki pulled out the cork. The liquid was flecked with gold flakes. Loki took a sip as he settled into the couch. “It’s rude not to share,” Tony muttered into his ear. 

“I don’t wish to hear your grumblings about the hangover,” Loki whispered back. Tony huffed out a quiet note of disagreement but Loki’s fingers came to his lips before he could argue. “Shhh.” 

Tony fidgeted before letting it go and watching the movie instead. It was something heavy on action with actresses that the others recognized. He quickly forgot about the bottle. 

Movie night felt like the only normal thing in the absurd life he’d come to call his own. Before Tony might’ve gotten restless, but now it was comforting to do something so ordinary with people he cared about. It was one of the times that he felt like he’d never left.

Clint called the ending of the movie right before it happened, resulting in loud groans and a pillow directed towards him. “I knew it,” Clint said as the pillow hit him squarely in the chest. 

“This is why we won’t let you watch CSI with us,” Natasha said. 

“Like you can’t already figure it out,” Clint said. Natasha had to let that one go. He was right. 

“At least he doesn’t spoil movies right at the beginning like someone here,” Steve said. 

“That movie was fifty years old,” Tony said. 

“It was still new to me!” 

“I said I was sorry, Rogers,” Tony said. The weight of Loki’s head moved with his shoulder as he shifted on the couch. “Let it go.” 

Natasha leaned forward on her chair. “Speaking of, have you seen Fro—”

“NO,” three voices said together. Bruce dropped his head over the back of his seat. 

“If I hear the first note of that song, the other guy’s going to take care of it,” Bruce said. “And I mean that.”

As their friendly bickering continued, Tony glanced down to see that Loki had fallen asleep. His face was flushed dark pink. He took shallow breaths through sloppily parted lips. Momentarily his eyes twitched in a dream. Remembering the bottle, Tony slouched down as carefully as he could and grabbed it from the coffee table. It was empty. 

Tony took a whiff. It smelled too sweet. He crinkled his nose as he set it back down. Steve and Clint were talking as they walked towards the elevator doors, and Bruce had just gotten up. Natasha made eye contact with Tony. 

“It wasn’t his kind of movie, huh?” She asked. 

“Probably not,” Tony agreed. He rocked Loki’s shoulders. “Rise and shine, sunshine. Movie’s over.” Loki muttered something and rolled over onto his stomach. “Get up or I’m going to have Natasha help me carry you.” 

Loki tensed. Tony stood up from the couch. Loki’s head wavered but he moved to get up. “I really will help if you need it,” Natasha told Tony. 

Tony caught Loki’s weight as he collapsed his side against Tony, wrapping one arm haphazardly around Tony's shoulder to protect himself from Natasha's reach. “I think it’ll be okay,” Tony said. She held open the elevator doors for him anyway as he guided Loki towards the doors. “He just needs to sleep.” 

It took a while, but once they were on Tony’s floor Loki found his own way to the bed. He dropped onto the mattress with a thud. 

Tony began changing clothes. “I thought you just didn’t want to share your toys, but now I’m sort of starting to believe you about the hangover,” Tony said. He shrugged off his jeans and pulled on flannel sleep pants instead. Just as he tied the drawstring he heard a high pitched sound, broken into choppy intervals. Tony’s spine went rigid. “Loki?” His head snapped towards the sound. 

Loki’s head bobbed against the mattress as the sound started back up. Immediately Tony rushed to the edge of the bed and grabbed his arm to roll him over. Loki’s eyes found him and the sound started again. “Are you…” Tony began. He was going to say crying, but now that Loki wasn’t making the sound into the mattress, it was much easier to understand. “Giggling?” Tony asked, hardly believing the word coming out of his mouth. 

It got louder. Tony clamped his hand over his mouth. “Seriously,” he muttered into his hand. 

Loki’s hands curled around his stomach as he giggled harder. Tony strained not to laugh. “Have I seen you this drunk?” Tony asked, as much to himself as Loki. “This is not what I expected.” 

Loki gasped for air before another fit seized him. Tony sat down on the edge of the bed. As he did he felt a weight attach to his skull. A curtain of hair fell across his back. Tony reached behind him and grabbed a fistful of dark brown hair. “No drunk magic,” Tony said. Loki smiled at him. “Even I know that’s a bad idea.”

Loki sat up. He grabbed a lock of Tony’s hair as the man winced. “This suits you,” he said. His forehead fell against Tony’s face, blowing warm breath against him. “I like it.” He burst into another fit of giggles. 

“You like it, or Asgard likes it?” Tony asked, catching Loki’s head between his hands. 

“I do,” Loki laughed. His face flushed darker. “They would too, but _hehe_ you _haheh_ would please me if you kept it.” A slow grin slid across Tony’s face as he pieced it together. “Both,” Loki mumbled. 

“Or,” Tony suggested. “It started out as an Asgard thing but then it became a _you_ thing.” 

Loki’s unfocused stare kept trying to hone in on Tony, and he was so absolutely giddy that Tony didn’t know how to handle it. That was not to say that he wasn’t enjoying it, however. “Yes,” Loki said, sounding utterly triumphant. As he spoke it became a proud speech. “I like it, it is more fun to pull, and tug and I want— _heheha_ Tony you’re always like—” He made a face, rolling his eyes back into his head and pursing his lips before bursting into laughter that was so hard tears fell down his face. 

It took Tony a minute to get it. “Are you…you’re mocking me, aren’t you?” 

“Clever,” was the only word Tony could make out between the chokes of laughter and giggles. 

Tony couldn’t get even a little bit mad or offended. Loki’s laughter was unstoppable, and as much as Tony knew that Loki would deny this happening in the morning or make threats to never speak of it again, Tony couldn’t help but find it a little bit endearing. It was nice to see the mirthful side of mischief making an appearance, and Loki losing the calculated front he always held up. 

“Hey,” Loki said, grabbing Tony’s shirt collar. 

“Hey,” Tony mimicked. 

“Science,” Loki said, perfectly imitating Tony’s accent. He contorted his face in a way that Tony was beginning to recognize as an impression of him. “Bromine. Repulsors. Loki, why are you wearing my shirt again? Don’t touch that, it’s for research—” Loki let his forearms rest on Tony’s shoulders. “Where did I put my tablet? Jarvis. J, Jarv, Jarvis.” 

“Yes?” The A.I. asked from the ceiling, sounding more than a little annoyed. 

“We’re good J,” Tony said. Loki stopped and beamed at him. The fond, adoring look in his eyes was consuming and raw. Tony couldn’t look away. 

Loki hiccuped. He let his head sink back towards Tony’s face again. Tony caught him. “Hey, maybe you should crawl into bed before you collapse on the end of it, huh?” Instead of answering Loki peeled his shirt off. He mumbled something about clothes and when he got frustrated that he couldn’t kick his Midgardian jeans off, Tony helped him out of those. Loki crawled under the sheets immediately. 

“So,” Tony said, settling down next to him. He smirked. “Have any secrets you’ve been keeping from me?” 

Loki grinned and flopped his hand towards Tony’s face. It was meant to be affectionate but smacked him in the eye. “Sorry I asked,” Tony said, wiping the tears from his watering eye. Loki dug his cold feet into him. 

“I know your secrets,” Loki confided in him. 

“You do?” Tony asked, half nervous. 

“Yes,” Loki said, grinning. 

Tony’s mind flashed to the rams, and the experiments to prolong life, and the time he’d broken one of Loki’s spell ingredients and lied about it. “You,” Loki said, flopping his hand against Tony’s face again, “like me.” 

“You figured me out,” Tony said. He couldn’t help a laugh. 

“Tell me,” Loki said. 

“Tell you what?” 

Loki’s eyes fell closed, but he repeated his demand as Tony dodged the hand directed towards him. “Tell you what?” Tony insisted. Loki's hand stilled and he dropped it to the bed. A slow smile pulled across his face. 

“That you like me.” 

“I like you,” Tony indulged him, shaking his head. He rolled onto his back. 

“Good,” Loki muttered. 

It was quiet for a minute. When Tony looked back over at him he was fast asleep, with that smile still on his face. Tony let out a deep sigh. “You’re never boring, I’ll give you that,” Tony said. 

He grabbed the long hair behind him. With resignation he tied it into a knot and settled into the pillow. He would cut if off in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some fluff for all that angst


	33. Negotiations

Loki slid his pointer finger down the glossy trail of smooth brown hair, following the curve that wound its way behind Tony’s ear, over his shoulder, and down to the mattress. Despite the throbbing in his head, Loki felt perfectly content. He brushed the pads of his fingers over the curve in Tony’s bicep where the skin was warm and firm. The man murmured something in his sleep. 

On mornings like this, it was hard to ignore the gaping hole in his chest that opened whenever he found himself centered on Tony, as if the affection his heart held would collapse the rest of him. He chuckled, distracting himself from it by grabbing a lock of hair and twisting it between two fingers. Tony would gripe and moan about the new length the moment he woke up. 

Loki vaguely remembered Tony tugging his accursed jeans off (why he conceded to wearing them on Midgard was beyond him, though it probably had something to do with the way that Tony looked at him in them). He could recall the soft grin on Tony’s face as he grabbed the damned fabric. He stayed in that memory for a while. 

Tony had no idea how significant he was. Maybe, someday, he would understand. The cotton sheet was colder beneath his palm. Loki pushed his fingers into the groove between it and Tony’s pillow, the heat from Tony’s arm slipping away into the cool fabric. 

His muscles ached as he shifted on his side. The hangover was preferable to the exhaustion that had claimed him after Tony’s transformation. With the burden lifted, his body had railed against his wishes, devouring every quiet moment to claim the rest and repair it had so dearly needed. 

Tony had called him lazy for it one morning, not knowing any better and put out that Loki’s attention wasn’t on him. Loki felt his lips quirk up as he remembered the subtle revenge he’d exacted for that remark. 

Lost in thought, Loki’s hand returned to the lock of Tony’s hair and gripped it. Tony rolled over in his sleep. Loki reacted too slowly, releasing the hair only after the tug brought Tony to consciousness. His eyes stirred open, soft brown and sleepy. 

Loki hid his hand beneath him with an innocent smile. Tony grinned back at him. “You had your hand in my hair.” 

Whatever expression had been on Loki’s face faded to perfect neutrality. Tony propped himself up onto his elbow. “I woke up like twenty minutes ago and felt it there before I fell back asleep,” Tony said. “Don’t act like it wasn’t, god of mischief.” 

Tony had such a way of making that title sound like a misnomer. “It appears your ego has run away with you again,” Loki said. With a regal, judgmental glance over Tony’s face he rolled onto his other side, leaving Tony with nothing but the expanse of pale flesh across his back to stare at. 

Tony took the bait. He pressed warm lips over a vertebra stretching up from the curve in Loki’s spine. His calloused fingers slid across Loki’s shoulder, guiding his back flat against the bed. Tony leaned down over him. He moved his head obligingly to the side, letting his eyes fall closed as he felt Tony’s warm breath drift against his lips. 

“Somebody,” Tony said, robbing him of any contact and rudely awakening him to a cocky stare as the man’s long hair fell in soft whispers against his face, “likes to run their fingers through my hair when I’m sleeping.” 

“Stark,” Loki said, painting on the most condescending stare he could muster, “your inability to distinguish dreams from reality is a true cause for concern. Perhaps I should bring you to a healer?” 

Tony teased his nose against Loki’s, tilting his head tantalizingly to the side, and just as Loki was about to fall for it he pulled back again with a laugh deep in his throat. “I was definitely awake,” Tony said. “So if it wasn't you, then it must’ve been someone else?” 

Loki rolled his eyes. Tony’s chest shook against him with another laugh. The thin cotton shirt between them irked Loki even as he stared defiantly at the ceiling. Tony’s fingers smoothed the sleek black hair against his temples. 

“Maybe I’ll keep it,” Tony said. 

Loki leaned up against him, hands curling around his waist as he eagerly looked into Tony’s face for confirmation. “I knew it,” Tony said. 

“I do believe I’ve insisted upon it,” Loki said. 

“Yeah,” Tony said, “you have.” His kiss took Loki by surprise this time, slow and careless. Before he could turn it into something else Tony pulled away again. “So I’m thinking that _maybe_ I’ll keep it every once in a while, just for you.” Loki tried to hide the little part of him that melted for Tony at that, but there was no where to go with Tony all around him, so he had to just hope that Tony hadn’t noticed. “But not when I’m working in the lab or hanging out in the tower. It’ll be a special occasion sort of thing.” 

“Like the fur coat,” Loki said, smirking. 

“We promised not to talk about that,” Tony grumbled, his face turning a faint pink. 

“You promised, not I.” Loki brushed his cold thumb over Tony’s check, aggravating his stubble. 

“Anyway,” Tony said quickly, “Maybe I’ll keep it after you’ve repaid your debt to me.” 

“My debt?” 

“Uh-huh.” Tony said. “You, touching me, remember?” 

Loki pulled one of his legs to the side, stretching under Tony’s weight. “You still believe I owe you?”

“Oh you definitely owe me,” Tony said. “Plus interest, remember? So that’s fifty percent everyday, and—” The tongue sliding in his mouth stole the words right out of him. A hand had found a tight grip in his hair before he broke free, saliva sliding down his slicked lips. 

“You will keep it,” Loki growled. “I have plans for it.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, sounding cheeky. “I know.” He rocked his hips down against Loki with a shit eating grin, teasing the growing erection there. “I’ve got to save it for something good. Maybe the next time I piss you off, how about that?” 

Loki’s sharp green eyes narrowed in on Tony, considering that. After a few moments his features softened. “And how am I to know that I will be satisfied?” The hand in Tony’s hair curled around a lock of hair. “Perhaps I need a demonstration?” 

“You wanna test drive—fine, you know what? Alright,” Tony said. “But only because I’m so nice—”

Loki’s mouth was ravenous as he pulled Tony into him. “A saint,” Loki gasped dryly before tightening his grip in Tony’s hair. 

“This is going to be as kinky as the coat, isn’t it?” Tony asked as Loki impatiently yanked his shirt off. 

Loki smirked. He wasn’t about to correct him.


	34. A New House and a New Trick

Tony was sitting on the floor and digging through a plastic box, searching for a tool that he’d left behind since the very first time Loki had taken him traveling. “Could I not simply transport the entirety of your laboratory?” Loki asked. Tony spilled nuts and bolts onto the floor. 

“No,” Tony said. “Some of it can stay here. I like it to be a certain way when we get back.” One of the bolts rolled over to where Loki was standing. It hit the side of his boot and stopped. 

“Would you not like them to be identical?” Loki asked. He dipped his hand down into the rams’s cage, hunching over the side of the glass. He brushed his fingers across the thick curls in Brynjar’s fur.

Tony didn’t answer him immediately. He had just found his favorite caliper. Shoving everything else back into the box, Tony stood up with the tool in hand. “No. I can set them up for different things,” Tony said. “We’re bringing that,” he said, nodding his head towards the ram enclosure. 

Loki leisurely brushed the tips of his fingers against the soft white fluff again. “They have a far greater need for it when they are here.” 

“The new lab will be just as dangerous,” Tony said. “Probably more. I’ll build one there too, but for now we’re bringing it. I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night with them crawling on the ceiling.” 

Loki combed his fingers down into Brynjar’s fir. The ram made a tiny bleat. Loki would not argue the issue with Tony if safety were the reason. He took his hand away as Andor jealously shoved at Brynjar to get closer. “You got several places, didn’t you?” Tony asked. “Why is the one we’re going to special? What makes it command central?” 

His boots tapped against the floor as he walked towards Tony, ignoring the rams crying for attention. “The property we’re going to is…command central,” he said, borrowing Tony’s term, “because it is, even in the eyes of Asgard, a gem.” 

Tony grinned. “Yeah?” 

Pride slid along Loki’s features as he paused in front of Tony, slipping the caliper out of the man’s hand. He pretended to be interested in the object as he spoke. “It will be a suitable home.” 

“Give that back before you break it,” Tony said, snatching the caliper away. 

“It hardly seems fragile,” Loki said. He crossed his arms. They stood close together, with only a few inches apart. “Is that the last of your things?” He waited for Tony to answer. The man had spent the better half of the morning sorting through the lab and showing Loki what to spirit away with them. 

Tony went over to his desk. “Just…all of this,” Tony said. It was jammed with pencils, pens, a big button, and several pairs of scissors. Loki took a cursory glance at it. Bored, he went back to the ram enclosure as Tony returned to piling things in the center of the room. 

“I think that’s it,” Tony said a long while later. Loki traced his finger across the glass of the enclosure. He held out his hand when Tony came to his side. 

“I shall bring this,” Loki said, “but only for the sake of your laboratory.” 

“Good choice,” Tony said, grabbing his hand. The god’s familiar magic crackled through them. 

 

They arrived in the largest, grandest atrium that Tony had ever seen. His mouth fall open. It was stunning, and that was saying something after all that he had seen. A transparent, birdlike creature flew across the glass ceiling. The light glinted off of it like little molten stars, mesmerizing him. “—gaudy,” Loki said dismissively. He grabbed Tony’s hand again, knowing that the man’s attention had been distracted. “A remnant of Asgard’s decorum, we may readdress it later.” 

Tony stumbled after Loki’s impatient grip. Andor and Brynjar bolted past them, down a never ending hall. Memorizing all of the doors and passageways would take weeks. “Holy shit,” Tony said, after he’d snapped back. “I thought you said this wasn’t much compared to—”

“What wealth Asgard has, correct,” Loki said. He was eager to get to the end of the corridor. “Indeed, this is not up to Odin’s standards, but it is indeed a gem.” Tony nearly had to run to keep up with him. “However,” Loki said, hurrying along, “it far outdoes many of Odin’s own properties, though it may not stand up to their apparent grandeur.” 

Tony couldn’t imagine a place more lavish than the one they were already in. It was breathtaking, but everywhere was silent, and gave him the distinct impression that there were no other inhabitants and had not been for some time. Before he could ask any questions, Loki yanked open a door. 

It gave way to a lush woodland, carpeted with thick ivy and needled trees towering skyward. Loki took a deep, satisfied breath. He pulled Tony into him as they stood in the doorway, staring out at the new sky. “It is the best home for spell craft,” Loki said. “I came here to practice often in my youth. I have…many fond memories here, of being on my own, studying under the best tutors in the nine realms.” 

Tony let his weight fall into Loki’s side. Fingers gripped at his arm. “I have never found another place like it,” Loki said. The contentment in his voice was palpable, and Tony wanted nothing but to soak it in. 

Loki, however, was not content to spend their afternoon in the doorway. He took Tony on a tour of the winding compound, and as they explored, Tony could see why Loki would prefer it. The atrium was made for appearances, as were all of the guest rooms, but beyond that felt authentic, cozy even. In some places the ivy had crawled along the textured brick walls and was left untouched. There were secret passages that Loki revealed with relish, relating tricks he’d played as a child. But when they got to the basement, Tony immediately knew that he was home. 

“We will update it,” Loki said. “Asgard’s engineers have not used it in several centuries.” 

Tony shook his head. The room was equipped to be a lab, but so much more advanced than his own back in the tower. His equipment that Loki had transported there seemed out of place. He felt light headed. It was exquisite and incredible and amazing and…

“Sir,” Jarvis said. Tony realized in slow motion that his A.I.’s voice came from above. “Are you going to gawk all day?” 

Tony laughed. “Yes,” he answered. 

“I have already taken the liberty of installing Jarvis,” Loki said. 

Tony nodded his head. 

When he caught Loki’s eye the pleasure reflected there was almost too much. Tony slid his arms around Loki, despite how much they itched to start working. “I’m really fucking lucky,” Tony said, dropping his forehead against Loki’s chest. 

Loki had to grab his chin to have Tony’s eyes on him again. Loki just grinned, saying nothing. 

Eventually Tony wriggled his way out of Loki’s grip. “I love you but I’m going to die if you don’t let me get started,” he told Loki. 

“I know,” the god said, amused. He had other things to attend to as Tony familiarized himself with the new lab. The banter between the man and his A.I. filled the lab before Loki made it out to the corridor. 

He wandered through the home, making mental notes of the things he would change. It was his now, to enjoy with Tony, and the thought gave him almost unbearable satisfaction. For the moment he conserved his magic. Sweeping changes would be made, but he had taken them and a considerable amount of material across the realms. Exhaustion was setting in. 

Loki swung open the broad wooden doors that would now lead to their bedroom. A deep emerald bed sat in the middle of the room. 

It wasn’t the largest room in the place by any means, but it was the most comfortable. The windows overlooked the gardens and a grand bath adjoined the room. He took a seat on the bed. Their things were there already. This time it was Tony with a pile of gifts. The Avengers hadn’t let him leave empty handed. Loki wondered if it was too soon to make the obnoxious posters Clint had given Tony mysteriously vanish. 

Soon the desk at the far corner would spill over with his spell books and misplaced Tony’s clothes. He laid back on the bed. Yes, this room was just right. It was exactly the size that they would never feel cramped, nor would Tony be too far from him.

He had started to doze off when he heard something impact the wall. Another impact followed it seconds later. He rolled over onto his stomach. Moments later the rams were at the foot of the bed, mewling. “I loathe to think what Tony would do if he found you in our bed,” Loki muttered into the sheets. He propped himself up on his elbow to stare down at them. “I would never get him to sleep in it again.” 

Andor cried out in one loud bleat. “Selfish little thing,” Loki told him. He snatched Andor up by his helmet. The ram’s stubby legs ran hopelessly in place until Loki set him in his palm. Andor’s purring could not drown out the sounds of Brynjar’s complaining. “Your poor companion,” Loki said. He set Andor back onto the floor. 

It was silent for a moment. Then they shot out of the room again. Loki closed his eyes with a sly smirk. He wondered how long it would be until they disrupted Tony’s lab. 

 

The next day Tony got lost no fewer than a dozen times. At first he tried figuring it out, but then he became dependent on walking around and yelling Loki’s name until he got the god’s attention. “If you cannot find your way, I shall be forced to keep you on a leash,” Loki hissed the eleventh time, his face flushing with vexation. 

His threat did not have the desired effect. Tony took it in stride, shrugging in a way that got right under Loki’s skin. “We can try that if you want,” Tony said. “But I prefer to be the one holding the leash.” Loki stared at him in ire, not following the man’s line of thinking. 

“ **You** are the one getting lost,” Loki stated. “I am loathe to hear Jarvis twittering from every pore of this place, but if it comes to that or your pathetic crying—”

“Hey,” Tony said. “Not all of us have stayed here before, okay? Besides, I could have Jarvis track my location on the tablet if I wanted to.” 

Loki’s eyes pulled back into narrow little slits in the same motion as his thin lips. “My rescuing amuses you.” 

Tony hooked his thumbs into his belt loops. “I don’t know if it’s that I’m amused so much as I’m lazy.” 

“I could throttle you,” Loki said. 

“That is kinda how this whole thing started babe,” Tony said, winking at him. Loki’s jaw set as Tony walked past him. “Don’t roll your eyes,” Tony said without looking back. “They’ll get stuck like that.” Loki’s eyes froze mid roll with a chagrin that would’ve made Tony’s toes curl. 

Thirty minutes later, when Tony’s voice rang down the halls for him yet again, Loki chased him straight into a dead end. Tony screamed when he got tackled. Loki had every intention of making him cry for mercy, but it was only seconds until the rams came cantering down the halls, smacking their curled horns into the two of them. Tony burst into laughter. He wedged Loki between himself and the rams, using the taller body as a shield while they head butted the god. It took Loki a while to realize that Tony wasn’t laughing at the rams, but his sour face. 

“Stark,” Loki said, rising off the floor and pulling Tony up with him. The rams mewed expectantly, asking to be picked up. 

“What, mischief horns?” 

Loki slipped on a patient smile, baiting Tony. “I am concerned about your lack of sense when it comes to your geographic location.” 

“You’re worried about me getting lost,” Tony simplified for him. 

Loki curtly nodded his head. He ran a hand along Tony’s shoulder. He drummed his thumb against Tony’s collarbone. “Yes,” he said. “And fortunately for you, I believe that I may have a solution.” Tony raised his eyebrows. It felt more like a challenge than interest, though Tony pretended to be innocent. “I think that you need someone to escort you through the halls. Perhaps Brynjar and Andor can keep you from getting lost.” 

At his words their beady black eyes honed in on Tony. A shiver went down his spine. He didn’t think that they could follow Loki’s commands, not without training. He certainly didn’t think that they understood language well enough to know what Loki was asking, but now he was starting to have doubts. Tony raised his chin up. “Good luck with that,” Tony said. 

Loki leveled him with an arrogant stare before sweetly turning his attention onto the rams. “Brynjar, Andor,” he said. Tony rolled his eyes at the darling tone. “Stay with Tony.” 

Tony looked at the rams. 

The rams looked at Tony. 

Tony swallowed hard. He put on his best press smile for Loki. “We’re going to have a great time,” he said. “We really bonded while you were in Asgard.” 

“Did you?” Loki asked. He rubbed Tony’s shoulders invitingly, leaning into him. “Then this should not be a challenge.” 

Tony smiled broadly. “Great.” 

“Wonderful,” Loki agreed. He fingers lingered across Tony’s shoulders before letting go and stepping back. The man turned from him and started walking down the corridor. At once the rams were at his heels, mewing and barking to be picked up. 

 

Tony walked until he was certain that he was out of Loki’s sight. Then he ran. 

He sprinted down the corridor. When he looked back over his shoulder he saw that the rams had matched his pace, losing no ground like angry little storm clouds. Suddenly the house was much easier to remember. He took a sharp turn down a narrow passageway that led back to the kitchen. 

Tony burst through an old servant door and into the back of the kitchen. He swung himself up onto a counter and threw open a cabinet as Brynjar and Andor scraped their feet against the counter, crying for him. “Yeah, yeah,” Tony muttered. He wiped sweat off his forehead. 

He would have preferred to outrun them, but he hadn’t wasted time with them at the tower. Tony ripped open a box of biscuits. He’d wanted to save the biscuits, even though Midgardian food didn’t taste right anymore. “Sit,” Tony demanded. 

The two sheep fell back like little angels. Tony tossed two biscuits onto the floor. Sighing, Tony got off the counter. Now that the frenzy was over, he calmly walked over to the food pantry. 

He got out a box of cheese crackers and set the biscuits back onto the shelf. “Roll over,” Tony told them. With eager obedience, they tumbled their fluffy bodies before devouring the cheese crackers thrown their way. Tony grinned. 

He rubbed at his chin, considering everything that he’d taught them. “Might as well,” he decided. “Brynjar,” he said. “Go fetch Loki’s left shoe.” The ram tore off, leaving Andor waiting expectantly. Tony waited a few seconds before issuing a command. 

“Andor,” Tony said. “Go fetch Loki’s right shoe.” The little ram shot off after its companion. 

Tony sat back down on the counter. He started eating a bag of chips, waiting. 

Loki had settled comfortably into his chair. A feeling of smugness had settled in as he thought that he had bested Tony. He propped his feet up and cracked open a book. 

It was a storybook one of his favorite tutors had given him. He’d forgotten about it until now. 

Lost in the story, he did not hear the thundering approach of Brynjar. It was only when the ram’s razor like teeth grazed his foot that he startled, just in time to see the little beast steal his shoe. It was longer than the ram, but that seemed to be of no consequence as it ran off. “You demonic larcenist!” Loki snarled, sitting up as Brynjar and the shoe flew out of the room. “Whatever has gotten into you?” He stood and rushed to the doorframe, only to see Andor rush in. 

“Darling,” he said. “Did you upset your—” Andor’s teeth sank into the leather tongue of Loki’s shoe, yanking the laces towards the little ram. “Perhaps I gave you an improper meat at your enchantment,” Loki guessed aloud, knowing as he said the words that they were wrong. A tiny pang of worry sank into his stomach. 

Not to be outdone, Andor head butted his ankle. Reflexively, Loki pulled his foot back, only to lose his shoe in the same motion. Andor dashed down the hall, the shoe clopping loudly behind him.

An anxious, half-whispered word left Loki’s lips. “Tony.” He sprinted after Andor, sliding in his socks and catching himself against the walls when he went too fast. The rams easily out ran him, but he could follow after the magic within them. 

Loki burst into the kitchen, gasping for breath and frantically looking around, only to find Tony safely sitting on the counter. He had Brynjar in one hand, and Andor in the other. Their loud purring rumbled over Loki’s heavy breathing. “Looking for these?” Tony asked, gesturing his head to the shoes beside him. 

“How did you—” Loki began. He took another deep breath, brushing the hair back from his face. 

“We bonded, remember?” Tony asked cooly. Brynjar mewed for effect. There were cake crumbs and icing on both of the rams's faces. 

Recovering from his shock, Loki walked over to the counter. “You—” He glanced down at his delighted ram. Brynjar’s purr grew louder. 

When Loki looked back at Tony the man was grinning ear to ear. “Come on,” Tony said invitingly. “Admit that you’re impressed.” 

“I’m—” Loki quickly closed his mouth. He stood a little straighter. Tony nudged his foot against Loki’s knee. “Fine,” Loki said, sliding one hand back through his long hair. “Impressed.” 

Damn, could he make that word sound good. Tony basked in the moment. “You’re impressed with me,” Tony said. “Go on, say it.” 

“I have already said it once, I see no need to say it again,” Loki said. He took Brynjar from Tony’s hand and began stroking his thick fluff. 

“I took your little demon pets and made them into angels,” Tony said. 

“They are _our_ demon pets, and they are not demons,” Loki said. “Demons are a different class of—”

“Technicality,” Tony spoke over him. He picked up Loki’s shoes with his free hand. “So I think these belong to me now.” 

“They certainly do not,” Loki said. 

“The rams brought me them so they’re mine,” Tony said. 

“The rams—” Loki reached over and snatched Andor from Tony’s hand. A shrill cry emitted from the ram as it was denied Tony’s elusive attention. “You turned them into shoe stealing brats,” Loki said. 

Tony laughed. Andor struggled so much that Loki had to set him back on the floor. He ran off, and seeing him leave, Brynjar cried until he was set down to do the same. As their clopping sounds vanished down the hall, Tony kept his cocky smile directed at Loki. 

“Stark,” Loki said. Tony dangled his shoes in his hand.

“If you want these back,” Tony said in sing song, “I can think of several things you can do.” He opened his arms wide. Loki reluctantly came into his embrace, gaging how it would all play out. 

“I doubt that any of them shall be a surprise,” Loki said dryly.

“Do you want your shoes back or not?” Tony asked. 

“Perhaps I shall simply take them from you.” 

“Nuh-uh,” Tony said. “I won this game,” Tony said. Loki sighed. “With flying colors,” Tony added cheerfully. 

“Fine,” Loki said. He sounded pained, but truth be told, he was horribly impressed with Tony. The man could probably ask for a lot of things just then and Loki would grant them simply because he was impressed. Tony however, was fairly simple. 

“On your knees,” Tony said. 

“What a surprise,” Loki declared. 

Tony rattled the box of cheese crackers. “If you’re really good I’ll give you a reward.” 

Loki rolled his eyes and tried to suppress the smile that was creeping onto his face. “Silence before I abandon my shoes and reject your offer.” 

“I impressed you,” Tony said playfully as Loki sank to his knees. His set the box of cheese crackers down on the counter as Loki’s hand slid up his thigh. 

He was going to like this new house.


	35. Carnival

Tony had been hunched over the device in his hands for quite a while, squinting at the little mechanisms. He refused to look up as he yelled back across the lab to Loki. “Where are we going? I thought we were going to stay in one spot for a while.” 

“If I wished to perish in your lab perhaps,” Loki muttered to himself through clenched teeth. He took a step from the doorway, rectangles of black fabric flaring out around his ankles. “Shall I conspire with Jarvis to pry you from your work again?” He called from the doorway. 

Tony’s thumbs froze in place. “It’s not conspiring if you mess with Jarv’s programming, which, by the way, I’m still sort of pissed about.” He picked hard at the back of the device, knocking a tiny piece loose. 

“What?” Loki asked with a little pout in his voice, suddenly standing right beside him. “You’re upset that Jarvis had a minor malfunction?” 

Tony’s head tilted joylessly upward, though his back and shoulders stayed hunched down. There was a streak of grease along his face that he’d probably forgotten about hours ago. “You could have damaged his programming.” 

Loki’s mouth twitched with a knowing smile. Tony knew better than to think that magic would genuinely damage the A.I., which only meant one thing. “Hmm?” Loki hummed, his voice almost a purr. “Are you feeling protective of your computer?” He asked, half mocking, half playful. Tony turned his head away so that he didn’t have to make eye contact. 

“I told you not to mess with him.” Tony muttered defensively. He set the knocked piece back into place carefully. 

Loki’s fingers crept along his shoulder, almost drumming. Tony shrugged him off. “My, Stark, I almost feel envious of your mechanical steward.” 

Tony set the device down and stood up. As he walked to another section of the lab, Loki trailed behind him like a shadow. 

“Perhaps I would feel less envious if we left,” Loki suggested. “Come, it is time to depart.” 

“I have a dozen experiments running right now, some alien beaches can wait.” Tony took a step to the side only to have Loki swiftly block his path. 

“Yes,” Loki said, setting his hands on either side of Tony’s neck. Dragging the man out of his lab was a delicate art, but it was something that he had mastered. “However, this festival will not wait.” He leaned in and whispered against Tony’s ear, timing the way he let his warm breath drift across the soft skin. “Would you really allow a carnival of debauchery to pass us by?” He asked softly. Tony took a sharp breath in the pause. “Surely you could part from your toys for a few hours of depravity?” 

Tony’s muscles tensed as he started considering that. Sure, he could allow the experiments to run unattended, but he had been in the flow. Loki’s soft, traitorous whispers returned to his ear again, craftily chipping away at his reserve. “Lewd, libidinous, indecency.” Loki groaned into Tony’s ear for effect, causing the man to unwillingly flush. He made his next question come across agonized and breathy. “Does that not appeal to you?”

Tony swatted at his shoulder with the back of his hand. “Fine,” Tony said, making himself sound far more put out than he actually was. Loki’s smug smile showed that he already knew. “Let me do a couple of things and then we can go.” 

Loki matched his steps as he walked up to a table with a large scepter lying on it. “Loki,” Tony said warningly. 

“Hmm?” 

“I said let me do a couple of things, not cling to my side like a barnacle.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

Tony drew in a deep breath. Then he persisted with what he was doing as Loki’s fingers resumed their drumming against his shoulder. “That’s not going to make me go any faster,” Tony said. “In fact, I might just slow down.” He turned around and crossed his arms, leaning back against the table as he stared at Loki.

Loki grinned, not to be outdone. “Then you have no need of preparations? I take this to mean that you are ready to leave.” 

Tony rolled his eyes as he turned back around. “No you don’t,” he said simply. Loki’s shoulders dropped as he stared at the man with annoyance. “What is this carnival, anyway?” Tony asked conversationally. 

Loki detested Tony’s lack of urgency, but answering the question was a way of keeping himself occupied. “It is a religious festival of sorts,” he said. “It is a carnival and festival at once, honoring the more…immoral delights of life. It is not unlike the one I attempted to take you to before, but this one is far more grand.” 

Adjusting an electronic display, Tony stepped away from the table and began walking towards a corner of the lab. “A religious festival, huh? And what’s this festival worshipping?” 

“Concepts, Stark,” Loki said obtusely. He had continued to hover over Tony, even as the man repeatedly bumped into him and tried to block his path. 

“And what would those concepts be?” 

Loki clasped his hands behind his back. “Release, gratification…chaos,” he dropped the last word quietly, almost reluctantly. Tony latched onto it immediately. 

“Chaos,” Tony said, smiling as he shook his head. “That should be fun.” He pulled a lever upwards, killing several of the lights. 

“Do you wish to make an implication?” Loki asked. 

Tony held out his hand. It was the bravest, most confident gesture that either of them could make. “Yeah,” he said. “I am. But it’s not much of an implication. I think we’ll find out that I’m right when we get there.” 

Loki glanced at the outstretched hand, chewing minutely on the bottom of his lip. He wanted to go, needed to go, more than he wanted to avoid Tony gloating over being right. He took his hand. 

 

The noise was deafening. “Where do we start?” Tony yelled over the crowd that jostled against them. There were beings everywhere, and very few of them resembled anything remotely human. Tony thought he saw a few Aesir in the distance, but Loki was already pulling him in the opposite direction. 

“Everywhere,” Loki said. Tony stumbled after him. It was a sensory overload. Colors that Tony had never seen before mingled on brightly colored streamers hanging above the narrow street. Wherever he looked was occupied by market stalls, or curtains leading to tents, or performers on stage. 

Tony narrowly avoided smacking into a large, muscular creature as Loki snaked their way through the crowd. “Don’t you want to, I don’t know, stop somewhere?” Tony asked. They’d easily passed twenty stalls already. 

When Loki turned around, his eyes were bright with something thrilled, manic almost. A purple luminescence had crawled in beside the familiar green. Unsettled, Tony’s grasp on Loki’s hand went limp. “I already know where we’re going,” Loki said. As he turned back towards the crowd, his hold on Tony’s hand did not falter. 

Tony settled for observing the carnival instead. He found himself wishing that it was happening on Earth, because he was certain that he was seeing obscenities but they meant nothing to his human mind. 

A tarp smacked the side of his head. Tony broke free of it just in time to see the ceiling of the tent that Loki had dragged him into. Bright, star-like orbs floated just beneath the canopy of fabric. Loki shook his arm. “You may release me, Stark.” 

It took Tony a second to follow the command. The tent was distracting, with its colorful interior and the heavy scent of incense on the air. Loki’s eyes were brighter, definitely manic, and familiar too… as Tony let go of his hand he placed what was familiar. 

He'd seen the same sort of detached reverence when Loki had been drunk. In fact, aside from the brightness he looked quite drunk, or high off something, like… “Can you feel worship from this?” Tony asked bluntly. Loki’s tongue slowly pressed to his top lip before nervously slipping back inside. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Tony said, unimpressed. “I mean the god bullshit, I get it you’re kind of immortal, though not exactly, and sure, Norse mythology may have attributed some qualities to you—”

Loki swayed as he pressed a hand over Tony’s mouth. “It is a particularity of magic that I have no desire to impart to you at the moment.” His hand disappeared as Tony’s gaze drifted towards the occupants in the tent. There were a few Aesir, but mostly shadowed forms of various lifeforms. A tiny stage was illuminated in the center, and the occupants were scattered across rugs that faced it or seated along what appeared to be a bar. “You may make yourself at home if you wish,” Loki instructed. “But do not venture outside of the tent. It will be somewhat difficult to find you.” 

Tony made no sign of understanding the directions and went straight to what interested him. “So, if you're the god of chaos, what does that make me? Because with this apple thing, I get to be the god of something too, right? So what am I? God of good looks? Extreme sexual attraction?” 

Loki had already made some space between them. Tony’s next train of thought was ignored. “Hey, this doesn't mean that the one time I indulged your worship kink you—” His voice faded away as Loki strode right over to the bar. “Fine,” Tony said. “I can entertain myself.” 

He seemed a little helpless then, staring around a large alien tent that he didn’t know the first thing about. “Come with me, I’m a big stupid baby that can’t leave you alone in your lab for five minutes,” Tony grumbled and mocked him. “I’m so needy. I can't go by myself to some weird ass carnival.” He glared at the back of Loki’s head, half expecting the god to call him over. “Whatever,” Tony muttered. “I _will_ make myself at home.” 

He marched over to the far end of the bar and took the only available seat. Loki was on the opposite side, and way out of earshot. Tony signaled to the bartender. “Hey,” he said cheerfully. “I will take the strongest whatever you’ve got and that guy down there is going to pay for it.” The bartender’s head (or at least, what Tony assumed was the head) swiveled towards the packed counter. “Long legs, long black hair, expression like this—” Tony twisted his face to be as condescending as possible. The bartender relaxed and grunted. Tony assumed that it went well. 

Two minutes later a large glass of something was set in front of him. Tony eyed the viscous blue liquid two seconds before downing it. 

It was pleasant. Uneventful. 

Actually. No. Tony combed his hand back through his hair. He felt…well okay, he was Tony Stark and he knew when he was drunk, and this was definitely drunk, but not the kind of drunk that made him want to call Pepper and Rhodey. 

Loki glanced down the bar. Tony had charmed french fries out of the bartender. Loki chuckled, surprised only by the bartender’s ability to conjure the strange food, and returned to the engrossing conversation he was having with the creature beside him. In the back of his mind, Loki wondered why Tony wasn’t hanging over him, but the man did have an independent streak. It was fine. 

The atmosphere of the carnival was intoxicating. Loki’s magic was answering in reverence. He called for another drink from the bartender and laughed along with the stories he was hearing. Utterly content, he did not think to keep an eye on Tony. 

After all, the man was not so susceptible to illness any longer. 

The music in the tent grew louder as the afternoon turned to evening. The incense drew heavy clouds in the air, obscuring the hazy lights above. Somewhere in the distance one group was particularly noisy, bursting into loud laughter frequently. 

In fact, after the tenth of fifteenth time hearing them, Loki almost thought that one of the laughs was familiar. He glanced down the bar to check on Tony. 

The man was gone. 

Loki swiftly twisted around in his seat, alarming the creature that had been engrossed in telling him a story. After a brief, tense moment, Loki recognized Tony standing in the noisy group. The man’s hands were gesturing wildly about himself as his mouth moved rapidly. Loki suspiciously considered it for a moment before slowly turning back around. Tony made friends wherever they went, and for once Loki would not allow himself to be upset. The carnival was too magnificent and delirious for him to work up any jealousy. 

He forgot about it again. Tony’s laughter returned to being background noise. 

The bartender came and stood in front of Loki. “I am quite well for the moment, thank you,” Loki said. The bartender shook their head. 

“Does that creature not belong to you?” The bartender gestured towards the stage. 

Loki clenched his jaw at the bartender’s wording, but he forgot it the moment he saw the stage. 

Tony stood in the middle, drunkenly telling a story to a rapt audience around him. He swayed as he spoke, laughing and making faces that had the audience in stitches. Although he could not hear the words he recognized Tony’s expression, he had seen it often, when Tony was…doing an impression of him. 

Loki swallowed hard. His hand came to the bridge of his nose and pinched for a moment before he let go and turned primly back towards the bar. “No,” Loki said. “I am unfamiliar with his acquaintance.” 

Just as he said it, Tony pointed in his direction, and all of the heads in the crowd turned with him. “He is sooooooo nice,” Tony crooned, audible in the crowd’s silence. 

Loki got up from the chair. His swift, sharp steps towards the stage were avoided by the less inebriated in the crowd, sensing danger. Tony beamed at him as he stepped on stage. 

Loki’s hands slid around the sides of Tony’s face. “Stark,” he said. The words were low and clipped. “What have you done?” 

Tony giggled. “Look at your face, you are so gorgeous when you’re mad,” he said. “Isn’t he?” Tony said louder, feeding on the attention of the crowd. 

Someone yelled something lewd that Tony missed, but it caused Loki to coil tightly and pull Tony possessively towards him. Tony smiled up at him, trusting and young in Loki’s eyes suddenly. “The performance is over,” Loki announced to the crowd. His eyes did not leave Tony’s face. 

There were cries of disagreement, belligerent shouts, and cheers for more. With one searing look, Loki silenced the crowd. His magic was overbearing. More than one of the crowd members reacted as they would to a god, bowing their heads and muttering appeasements. 

The moment Loki stepped off the stage with Tony it was forgotten. Someone else got on stage and the tent went back to the way it was, all tension gone. 

“You may have whatever you like, how about that, oh, what do you call them—cheeseburgers. Why don’t you have one of those? But you must stay here beside me and keep yourself occupied.” Tony swayed in Loki’s grip on his shoulders. He smiled at Loki again, and this time Loki was certain that Tony had not heard him. 

“Loki?” Tony asked, sounding timid. “I was kinda mad at you today.” He sounded childlike, but Loki found his sympathy renewing itself for the man. “You were really mean to Jarvis.” 

Loki closed his eyes and took a long breath. He regretted feeling sympathy immediately. “Loki?” Tony asked again. 

“Yes?” 

“And I was kinda mad at you for bringing me here and making rules up,” Tony said, continuing right along. “Because you're bossy,” he said, emphasizing the last word with a long _o_ . 

“Sit down, Stark,” Loki said. He needed to redirect the man. “I will order something for you, now sit down.” 

“But then,” Tony said brightly, ignoring his direction. “I started telling everybody about things we’ve done and Loki?” The god’s eyes had drifted up towards the ceiling, his jaw set. “Loki?” Tony asked insistently. He would not continue without Loki’s attention. 

“Yes?” 

Tony fell into him in what appeared to be an attempt at a hug. “Then I remembered how much I like you and I love you.” 

“Yes,” Loki said delicately, maneuvering Tony down onto a chair. “I do believe you have told that to every being we have passed by.” He nodded his head towards the bartender. “Bring him a cheeseburger, and what did he order, precisely?” The bartender said something that Loki did not like. “And a tonic then,” he said, readjusting Tony’s seat on the barstool. 

“Do you pluck your eyebrows?” Tony asked suddenly, with alarming urgency. 

Loki sat down beside him without answering the question. “I used to date this woman and she taught me how to draw them in,” Tony said. Loki waved the bartender back over, this time to order something for himself. 

“I see that I should have kept you by my side,” Loki said, looking straight ahead. “I forget that you are still Midgardian, even if you are not mortal.” The bartender set a small glass with a blue liquid in front of Loki. He took his time sipping the drink. Tony’s food had come at the same time, and he had lost interest in Loki completely. “I should have intervened. You will not enjoy the hangover from that particular concoction,” Loki said, mostly to himself. 

His eyes darted over to Tony eating. The man was in a state of perfect bliss. Loki watched him for a few moments before grabbing the tonic and directing Tony to drink it. Tony tipped his head back obligingly only after Loki threatened to take his food. 

“I loathe to think of your complaints tomorrow,” Loki said. Tony was happily oblivious to him again. Loki’s attention drifted back to the atmosphere of the festival and the conversations of the creatures around him. By the time he felt Tony’s head settle against his shoulder, his eyes were a different shade entirely. He twined his arm around Tony as the man fell asleep. 

In the early morning hours the festival wound down to a close. Loki gathered Tony into his arms, almost wishing that the man was awake so that he could enjoy his indignant protests at being carried. Tony’s eyes flickered open once during the closing ceremony, to see a brightly colored comet drifting over the sky and Loki’s fervent eyes meeting his own. Tony drifted right back to sleep, and woke up in his own bed. 

“Lokiii,” he groaned. The god didn’t budge. He jostled Loki’s arm. “My head is killing me, poof it away already.” He pressed Loki’s cold hand to his forehead. “Presto hangover.” 

Loki’s hand slipped from his grip and receded into the covers. “Your non-mortal form is not so simple a cure as your mortal one,” Loki grumbled, half asleep. “If you partake of particular non-Midgardian drinks, do not anticipate a Midgardian cure.” 

“What?” Tony snapped. He rolled over and pushed his head into the pillow, fake sobbing miserably. “You never told me that! What the hell kind of fine print is that? I…I need my lawyer.” 

Loki wrapped his pillow around his ears, muffling out the stream of complaints that poured out of Tony’s mouth. He began drifting back to sleep. 

Tony’s chatter abruptly ceased when the stomping of little ram feet wandered into the room. It was quiet for a moment. “…I’m gonna let Loki deal with that,” Loki heard, half-asleep. As Tony’s arms came around him and the man snuggled into him, he instantly forgot. Loki fell into deep sleep. Tony closed his eyes, determined to fake sleep until well after Loki woke up.


	36. An Unexpected Guest

“Get up.” 

Tony heard the words, but they didn’t mean anything. Not when they were said by the blonde supermodel identical to a poster above his desk in college. It had driven his roommate crazy, and said roommate was now speaking. “Get up right now,” he said. 

“I said get up!” Loki snapped, thumping a pillow hard against Tony’s behind. 

His hazy brown eyes drifted over the room, looking for the supermodel. “So this is what you meant by ‘I’ll let Loki deal with that?” Tony pressed a hand to his forehead, pitifully waking up for real as the god’s voice boomed above him. 

“Babe,” Tony said in a half-whisper. “Too loud.” 

“You know that I detest that patronizing endearment,” Loki snarled. He thwacked the feather pillow against Tony’s back. “You will clean it up.” 

Tony tightly pressed his lips together. Now that he was awake, he knew what he was guilty for. He took one cautious look up at Loki. 

The god glared down over him, dressed in exquisite Asgardian attire with his hair slicked back. He had been awake for a while then, Tony figured. That wasn’t good. 

Tony sat up slowly. “Can’t you just poof his coat clean,” Tony said, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. His head was pounding, and the light in the room was nothing short of torture. 

“His coat?” Loki asked. He dropped the pillow from his agile hand. “Why yes, I can certainly clean his coat.” 

The tone of Loki’s voice was condescending and bitter, and Tony knew better, but he still said it. “Alright, cool.” He flopped back down onto the bed. 

Tony tensed as Loki leaned in, his body crying out danger. “I could certainly clean his coat,” Loki said in a low, half-uttered lilt. 

“Great,” Tony said, throwing the covers off and retreating to the other side of the bed. His head spun as he slid towards the floor and stood up. His feet hit something slick and wet. Tony tumbled onto the floor with a loud smack. It was covered in mud. Tony threw his head back with a groan. 

“As you can see,” Loki said, taking delicate steps around the bed to lord over Tony, “our dear pets have gotten into a great deal of trouble in our absence.” He smiled before he corrected himself. “Negligence, rather.” 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said. He balanced himself against the bed to stand up. 

“Your negligence. It was a trouble which you, no doubt, were aware of when you left it to me to discover this morning.” 

Tony didn’t back away as Loki took another step inward. “Loki,” Tony said, his voice as tired as he felt. “It’s mud. They’re fine. You’re fine.” He gestured his hands towards Loki. “Give them a bath and let your handsome SO sleep.” 

“It calls for a tad more than a bath,” Loki said, his eyes narrowing. “Though that gives me an excellent idea.” He curled an arm around Tony’s waist, pulling him inward. Tony sighed loudly. He slouched backwards. 

Loki guided them with dramatic, dance-like steps out into the hallway, where Tony was not in the least bit surprised to see a long trail of dark mud. He dragged his feet as Loki marched forward. 

When they reached a foyer Tony finally understood. 

The room was in shambles. A couch had been flipped over. Potted flowers laid strewn across the floor, their vases smashed into little pieces. Mud soaked the rugs in all of the places that overturned furniture and random objects didn’t touch. 

Loki released him for Tony to take a slow step into the room. The shock and surprise in the man’s posture pleased him greatly. Surely now he would relent on his apathy, and Loki so did enjoy it when Tony was trying to make something up to him. He was rather excited at the prospect. 

“…you got rid of my ACDC poster.” 

The smug look on Loki’s face vanished. Tony turned around, holding his arms out. “You fucking got rid of it,” Tony declared. He shook his head. “I knew you couldn’t let one thing sit in your Asgard meets Rocky Horror and Hot Topic freak show of a decor statement.” 

“That is what you derive from this?” Loki asked, his voice climbing. 

“Uh. Yeah,” Tony said. “And FYI the poster maybe could’ve fit the scheme you were going for, if you had bothered to care about it.” 

“As if that’s the only thing you listen to,” Loki said defensively. “How many times have I happened upon you in the midst of some grand orchestral arrangement? Is it really necessary for you to declare your affection for this…band?” 

“I like classical too,” Tony said. “But the poster for that isn’t half as cool.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I should get a design team on that, the profit probably won’t outweigh the production cost but—”

“Must you make everything about yourself?” Loki asked. “Imagine my displeasure when I awoke to find this monstrosity and recall your words, the realization that your embrace was nothing other than a ruse to defer responsibility—”

“Where are the little bastards, anyway?” Tony asked. With one curt eye roll, Loki demonstrated that he didn’t know. He shrugged his shoulders, then pointed a glare at Tony. “Can’t you just magic GPS them?” Tony asked. 

“Perhaps,” Loki said. He had crossed his arms and slid a finger against his lips momentarily. “But considering the magical activity within the forest outside, they rather blend…it would require _effort_.” 

Just as Tony came up with something snarky to say to that, a loud chime rang out. Loki’s head turned towards the hall leading outward. 

“Is that a doorbell?” Tony asked. 

“Yes,” Loki said, his voice wavering between disdain and concern. 

“Who the hell is going to show up here?” Tony asked. Loki had gone still, intently listening towards something in the distance. 

“I do not know,” Loki said tersely. 

“Hey,” Tony said, brightening. “Do you think it’s Andor and Brynjar letting themselves in?” 

Loki gave him the most withering look Tony had ever enjoyed. Instead of answering, he snapped his fingers. Instantly, the room was beautiful again. “Oh,” Tony said. “So that’s how it is? Make Tony feel bad when it’s just a finger snap away?” Loki took long strides down the halls, Tony at his heels. “You are such a martyr,” Tony said. “You know where the rams are, don’t you? I bet that’s a lie too—”

They reached the front door in no time at all. Loki slammed his arm across it, blocking Tony from traveling any further. “No,” Loki said. “I do not know where they are, but rest assured, whenever I do find them, you will be giving them a bath.” 

“Pshhhht,” Tony scoffed. “I’ve done enough for your pets, I made them that stupid enclosure last week, that thing’s a freakin’ pet palace—” Loki had gone stiff against the door. His attention dropped off from Tony entirely. Dread and contempt seethed from him. “Babe?” 

“Of course he would,” Loki grumbled through clenched teeth as the doorbell chimed again. 

“Who—” Tony started, but Loki pushed him back and pulled the door open. 

Sunlight poured in. Tony shielded his eyes. There, arms full of gifts, was Thor. 

Tony swore as his hangover assaulted his head again. Thor’s grand voice filled the hall in greeting as Loki stepped aside, letting him in. Tony chuckled at the look on his face as Thor pulled him into a hug, until it was done to him. Then it was Loki’s turn to make snide faces. 

“Are you moving in?” Tony asked, nodding his head towards the pile of gifts that had fallen to the floor in the commotion. 

“It is meager compared to what I would otherwise bring, but Loki has refused a housewarming celebration,” Thor said, sounding especially putout on the last part. 

Loki pulled back his mouth into a strained smile. “I see no need to trouble Asgard.” 

Thor pulled him into another involuntary half hug that Loki gracefully slipped out of. “It is no trouble, we would eagerly accept your invitation. You are a prince, surely you deserve our attention and celebration.”   “A celebration of Asgard’s favoring would be quite taxing on Tony’s mortal disposition,” Loki said. 

“Tony is capable of holding his own, I have been to many a celebration in which he—”

“Perhaps you would care for a drink?” Loki asked. He grabbed Thor’s wrist and tugged in the direction of the kitchen. Thor glanced back questioningly over his shoulder at Tony as Loki dragged him forward. Tony just shrugged. 

It was Tony’s voice that carried through the halls all the way to the dining room. “So,” Tony said. “How’ve you been? Good? How are things up in Ass-guard?” Tony snickered at his own joke.

“Stark, how many times must I endure that pun?” Loki asked, picking up an old conversation as if it’d never stopped. 

“Endure? You mean enjoy?” Tony asked. He took a seat next to Thor at the very long dining table. Loki disappeared into the kitchen. “He could just poof it in here,” Tony said. 

“Aye,” Thor said, almost distantly. 

“Aye?” Tony repeated. “Aye-aye. Anyway, really, how have things been?” 

Thor studied him for a moment before saying anything. It reminded Tony of Loki, in a way. “Well,” Thor said. “And how have you fared?” 

“I’m super,” Tony said. 

Thor’s gaze drifted over the opulent dining room as he tapped one finger, just perceptibly, against the table. The dining room did not seem particularly lived in, or regularly used at all. Thor cleared his throat. “You…have not been to Midgard in some time,” he said. 

“What? Sure I have. We were just there the other week.” Tony spun his head around towards the kitchen but Loki had not yet reappeared to back him up. “We had movie night, and Bruce showed me this science award he won, and Natasha bonded with our pets.” Thor smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “Oh, and Steve didn’t tell me exactly, but I can tell he’s seeing someone.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “What do you think? Do you know?” 

Thor shook his head. He fidgeted with the embossed leather bracelet on his wrist and then double checked the kitchen door. “How has Loki been?” He asked. 

“Great,” Tony said instantly. His expression dimmed into something vaguely suspicious. “Why?”

“Can I not inquire after my brother’s well being?” Thor asked. 

“Well yeah,” Tony said. “But if you’re trying to get at something…” 

Thor sighed. “No,” he said. “I can see for myself that he is doing well, I ask for your sake.” 

“What?” 

The door to the dining room swung open. Loki carried a sapphire colored tray with both hands. There were three glasses, two of which he set down with a bottle for himself and Thor. Tony recognized the bottle as the same from Loki’s Asgardian gift pile. Loki set a different glass in front of Tony, next to a bottle of wine from California. Then he sat down on the other side of Tony, wedging the man between himself and Thor. 

“Hey,” Tony said. “Why do I get the kiddie juice?” 

Loki’s eyes darted towards him with a dangerous edge. He kept his face constrained, but Tony easily read him. “Do you wish for a repeat of last time?” Loki asked, tearing his attention from Tony and focusing entirely on pouring the drinks instead. “You know your mortal form cannot tolerate Asgardian liquor.” 

Oh. Right. Tony dropped his weight back into his seat, crossing his arms. “Can’t blame me for trying,” Tony said, laughing it off and looking to Thor for a coconspirator. The blonde pretended to be amused, but Tony caught the look he gave his brother. 

When Tony looked over, Loki’s return expression was already gone. Loki took a heavy sip from his own glass. “I presume you carry the burden of an errand?” Loki asked primly. 

Thor pulled his gold rimmed glass from his lips to answer and set it back on the table. “I need an excuse to see you?” 

There was a faint, barely perceptible flicker of green from Loki’s finger tips. It dissipated against the glass. “You need not make a presentation of camaraderie if you wish to ask something of me.” 

Tony wished he weren’t seated wedged between them. His nervous attention was drawn back to Loki’s fingers, honed in for any sign of more stress release magic. “No tricks,” Thor said. There was a quiet pause. “Your contact has been limited,” he said, by way of explanation. 

Tony felt Loki’s thigh shift against his as the god tensed uncomfortably. He didn’t let it show on his face. “Did I not just visit Asgard?” 

“Loki, that was several months ago.” 

“And we have known each other several millennia.” 

“I think we need something to eat with this, it’s not good to drink on an empty stomach, right kids?” Tony stood up, shoving his chair back. “Thor, did you eat anything before you got here?” He asked as he felt Loki’s hand creep around his side. 

Loki’s gaze stayed trained on the glass in his other hand. “I have it,” Loki said. Plates of food appeared on the table as Loki’s concealed hand tugged him back down to the chair. Tony’s knees were stiff as he sat back down. Tony pulled a plate towards himself for a distraction as Thor thanked Loki. 

“I didn’t see you at the tower last time,” Tony said, taking a bite of food. It was an imitation of the greasy bar food he liked, which could only mean that Loki was trying to appease him or felt guilty. “The next time we’re all there you should come. We could let Steve pick a movie. Or go bowling? Go carts?” 

“I have had limited time to spare on Midgard,” Thor said, somewhat reluctantly. “But I thank you for your offer. I will accept it as soon as I can.” 

“Great,” Tony said. “Because I’ve had this bet with Bruce for ages that you can drive a mean race. I figure a guy like you plus the toys on Asgard means there was some great drag racing somewhere in your past.” 

Thor nodded his head to the side, probably with the first real smile Tony had seen since he arrived. “There may have been some incidents.” 

“Oh?” Tony asked. “Come on, share with the class.” Loki’s hand slid across his thigh and come to rest against his knee. 

“Well,” Thor said. “Should I tell him about the one mother found out about, or the other?” 

“It would be a crime not tell of her reaction,” Loki said. 

Thor nodded his head. “That is true,” he said. He began a detailed, suspenseful retelling of an incident in which he and the warriors three stole the equivalent of Odin’s sports car. They blew through town in it and raced against anyone that would give them the chance. Loki’s hand absently drummed against Tony’s knee the entire time, even when he interjected into Thor’s story. “I knew father would return by nightfall, so we returned it just before he was scheduled to arrive. We had paid off the guards—”

“I paid off the guards,” Loki said. 

“Only because Sif told you to—”

“She _told me_ to do nothing. She merely informed me of your actions and I acted accordingly. If you’d had the slightest bit of sense you would have returned far before father was scheduled to return and—”

“And what would have been the fun in that?” Thor asked. “There would have been no time at all.” 

“Where were you during all of this?” Tony interrupted. Loki sat a little straighter. 

He took another sip from his glass. “Being a reasonable inheritor to the throne.” 

Thor made a deep huffing sound. “As if you did not have your fair share of tricks.” 

“No, but I always got myself out of them, did I not? And yours as well, save for this one—”

“Had Odin arrived three minutes later we would not be having this conversation at all.” 

“Okay, okay,” Tony said, leaning between the space in the table where they’d been trading arguments. “So what’d he do when he came home?” 

Loki leaned back from the table and into his chair as Thor smiled awkwardly. 

“His arrival was preceded by mother’s,” Thor said. 

Tony stared at Thor, waiting for him to continue. When he did not immediately, Loki filled it in. “She came early, anticipating father’s arrival, and found her dear son and his friends climbing out of his favorite vehicle.” 

Thor crossed his arms and smiled, as guilty as if it had been yesterday. “She did not tell father.” 

“No, I think you would have been more fortunate if she had,” Loki said. He took a long, heavy drink from his glass. His toes tapped against the air while his heels sat propped up against the floor. A faint smirk set on his face. 

Tony pushed his plate away from him so that he could lean his arm on the table. “Are you going to tell me what she did already or leave me hanging?” 

Thor stared at the ugly painting on the wall for a few seconds before taking a quick glance at Loki. His brother did not make eye contact. “In exchange for her not telling him, I had to do chores.” 

“And tell him what that entails,” Loki said. 

“Cleaning,” Thor said simplistically. 

“The royal stables,” Loki said. Thor caught his head in his hand as he leaned against his elbow, a grin on his face as if bracing himself for the old memory. “There were five hundred and eighty horses in Asgard’s fleet, and they are of a larger variety than yours on Midgard. The mess they make is…exceptional,” he finished, with precise but obvious delight. 

Tony glanced over at Thor, who shook his head. “I had to clean their stalls, scrub down the building, wash the horses, clean their tack…” 

“Your buddies helped you though, right?” Tony asked. 

Thor nodded his head. “Between the four of us, it was slow work. Mother gave the staff an unanticipated vacation. Sif took pity upon us and helped with cleaning the tack, but it still took several weeks to complete, especially considering that we had to begin again with cleaning the stalls each morning.” He stopped and leaned over the table so that he could get a clear look at Loki’s face. “It may have taken less time if someone had offered his aid.” 

“I told you that my magic was not capable of such feats. It was beyond my studies at the time,” Loki said. He poured himself another drink. 

Thor and Tony both made huffy sounds of disagreement before looking at each other and laughing. Tony’s hand set on Loki’s shoulder as the god tensed, indignant. “Come on Loki, you’re too good at magic. You can’t get away with a lie like that.” 

Loki turned his head away from them, hiding the pleasure on his face at Tony’s declaration. He took a slow, winding sip until he could turn back towards them. 

“He enjoyed my punishment,” Thor said. There was no malice in his voice, just simple recognition. Tony shook his head knowingly. 

“Your mother’s crafty,” Tony said. 

Thor agreed. “You can see where Loki gets it from.” 

“How is mother?” Loki asked. Though his voice sounded neutral, Tony found himself distracted by Loki’s finger tracing up and down the stem of his glass. 

“She is well,” Thor said. “Though I know that she longs for you to visit.” He let the statement hang in the air for a while. Tony slipped his hand under the table to rest over where Loki was still holding onto his knee. 

After a still moment, Loki’s hand slipped away from him. The god took sudden interest in the food in on his plate. He began to cut a large slab of meat, sawing with swift movements of his knife. “Perhaps Tony could accompany you on your next visit?” Thor suggested. 

Loki’s cutlery stilled, then moved with far too much force. There was a loud scrape against his plate. Tony filled in for him, laughing. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s a little too meet the parents for me right now, you know?” Tony scratched his head, ruffling his hair. “You guys don’t need to put me up, you’ve got a realm to run.” 

“Nonsense. Father and mother would delight in the chance to spend time in the company of their son and his dear—”

“Tony,” Loki said. “Could you please get another bottle from the kitchen?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, grabbing the half full wine bottle and bolting for the door. His own wine had been left entirely untouched. As the kitchen door swung closed behind him, he set the bottle on the counter and leaned against the door. Thor and Loki were quiet for a few seconds, but then Tony could hear them speak. 

“Please leave him out of Asgardian politics, I have no desire for him to undergo the scrutiny of your parents,” Loki said. His voice was low but calm. 

“Loki,” Thor said, his patience wearing. “Our parents wish him no harm. You do not have to forgive Odin, but do not deny mother the pleasure of seeing you and Tony because you are angry at him.” 

Tony held his breath as he leaned against the door. There was no way to see anything. “This is not about former slights,” Loki said after a few moments. “I do not wish to spend what little time I have with Tony upon Asgard.” 

“And what will you do when the time for his passing comes? You owe it to him and yourself to allow our family to know him, or at the very least, Loki, you must allow him time among his own on Midgard. I have allowed our family to meet Jane, and I have not kept her from her own people—”

“He is _not_ Jane, and I will not be advised on how to carry out his time as if I am his steward. I wish for Tony to make his own choices.” 

“He is a fugitive among his own people now, Loki.” The words were said very, very quietly. Tony held his breath against the door. 

“A feeling I am quite familiar with,” Loki said. 

“Loki.”

“Did you come here to question my treatment of Tony?” 

“No,” Thor said. “I know he is well, and it is clear that he adores you. I simply remark upon his fragile position among his own people out of concern. He belongs to Midgard. His body will not always be capable of this lifestyle.” 

“We have visited his people often,” Loki said. “I have not kept him from the Avengers.” 

“No, but he is no longer an Avenger. Nor can he be.” A chair scraped across the floor. “They could have used him in battle recently.”   

“Are they unwell?” Loki asked, his voice careful and concerned. 

“No,” Thor said. “They are well. But they miss Tony, as we miss you on Asgard.” 

“Let us not repeat our conversation,” Loki said. “I do not wish to pursue the subject.” It went quiet. Tony couldn’t decide if it was because he just couldn’t hear them anymore, or if they had stopped talking, but it was well past the amount of time it should’ve taken him to grab a bottle. He rushed over to the wine rack and grabbed the closest one. Then he hurried for the door.

In his haste, the neck tipped through his fingers. He hunched forward and clutched the heavy bottle to his chest, catching it. He let out a heavy sigh of relief. He paused. With his head beside the door, he could hear them talking again. 

“No, you do not _understand_. I am not a mirror of you and Jane. Tony is not Jane, though Midgardian he may be. Your concern is misplaced.” Tony leaned against the wall. The strain in Loki’s voice worried him. 

“Loki,” Thor said. “Surely if any were to understand how bereaved you may feel, it is I.” Tony heard the chair scrape against the floor again. He couldn’t bring himself to push through the door this time, however. This was a chance to maybe hear what was said to Loki on his trips to Asgard, and Tony wanted to know. “Tony is a dear friend.” 

“And what is the reason for pointing this out?” 

“Mother is concerned. I am concerned. I see how deeply you care for Tony. I worry for what will happen when his time has come,” Thor said. “This has been such an exception for you. I have never seen you so dedicated, and I worry for how you will fare.” 

“And what is your suggestion?” 

“It seems ill fated. Unhealthy.” 

“Unhealthy,” Loki repeated. 

“Perhaps you should allow him some time among his people and come home, Loki. It may allow you some perspective. You belong with us.” 

Tony heard the definite scrape of a chair this time. Loki’s voice flitted above the secretive tone it had been in to crackle with anger. “You may be content to withhold your affections from your mortal plaything and appease Odin’s moral sense, but I am not so callous or asinine. Nothing will spare you the damage, and I demand that you cease your hapless advice. I will not hear of it, nor will I be wooed by Asgard’s pity.” 

“Loki—”

Tony shoved the door open with his shoulder. Loki was standing several feet away from the table, facing Thor. The blonde had not risen from his chair, and kept an arm across the table. He seemed concerned, angered, pitying, and resigned all at once. Loki’s tired face softened by a few fractions when he saw Tony. “I couldn’t choose. We should really think about hiring a sommelier, don’t you think?” 

He walked over and set the bottle in Loki’s hands. Loki turned it over to the label. “This is sparkling grape juice.” 

“Isn’t that what wine is?” Tony asked. Loki set the bottle on the table with a light chuckle. Tony’s hand circled the small of his back, hidden from Thor. “Anyway, I’m kinda done sitting around. Maybe we could take Thor on a tour of the place or something?” 

He couldn’t see the look that Loki gave Thor, but whatever it was made Thor take a deep breath and drop his gaze to the floor for a moment. “Tony,” Loki said. His voice had a hard edge to it that made Tony’s hand retreat. “Thor and I have some things to discuss, and you needn’t be burdened from being kept from your laboratory.” 

Tony hesitated for a moment, anxious about leaving the two alone to their own devices, which only made the headache from his hangover that much worse. “Alright. You kids have fun,” he said. “Don’t get into any trouble.” 

Loki just stared at him impatiently for him to leave, while Thor said a warm but polite goodbye. Tony backed out of the room with a warning look at Loki. 

The moment he was out of sight, he slipped a miniaturized Stark Pad from his pocket. “Jarvis,” he muttered into the device. “Display the feed for the dining room.” 

“And may I ask why I am pulling up that feed when your maid uniform is not currently in use?”

“Shove it,” Tony said as the screen flickered to a grainy feed. The audio was coming through though, so Tony walked down the hall and into one of the unused rooms. He made himself comfortable on a leather sofa. 

“—hypocritical,” Thor was saying. “You presume much of my feelings toward Jane.” His deep voice had the authoritative edge to it that Tony recognized from battle. “It would not be kind for me to take Jane, Loki. She has no place among our people. It would not be kind to her.” He could only see half of Thor in the frame, and Loki was missing entirely. The camera had never been positioned with surveillance in mind. “She has a place and friends among her people that I cannot ask her to give up.” 

“Were you not eager to defy Odin’s wishes on the matter before? This newly enlightened view strikes me as odd,” Loki said. “So. Am I to suspect that your involvement with Foster has ended, or that you have only come to imitate the words of Odin?” 

“Neither,” Thor said. 

“I would prefer it if you would tell me what you want,” Loki said. “I do not enjoy this little game.” 

Thor shifted in his chair and turned out of the frame, leaving Tony with nothing but the audio. “Loki, must you deny me at every turn? There was a time when you would listen. I want nothing from you.” 

“Perhaps you do not,” Loki said, sounding only skeptical. “But your timing suggests otherwise.” Thor’s voice rose irritably at the same time as a loud clunking sound interrupted the audio. Loki’s face appeared in the feed, staring directly into Tony. The man’s heart raced and his body flushed, a conditioned thrill at being caught. Loki’s eyebrow raised, the unspoken gesture letting Tony know that he knew, and then the screen went blank. 

“I have been disconnected, Sir,” Jarvis said. 

Tony sighed and sank back down into the couch. “What’s the probability of Loki not kicking my ass?” Tony asked with a half-hearted laugh. 

“In comparison to previous transgressions, it would appear that it is relatively low, Sir.” 

“Great,” Tony said. He closed his eyes, feeling sicker than when he woke up. His mind would not let him go, though. It was hellbent on analyzing the conversation, comparing it, scrutinizing it like data. Tony had lost track of time when Jarvis grabbed his attention. 

“The feed is back on,” Jarvis said. “Shall I resume?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He was completely unsurprised to see Loki, beckoning him with a curled finger and a smug smirk. He vanished from the frame a few seconds later. 

Tony rolled off the couch and onto the floor, complaining to himself. Then he dragged himself into the dining room. 

Loki smiled at him as he entered, which only made Tony suspicious. “Has something gone wrong in your laboratory?” Loki asked. Tony glanced at Thor. So the blonde had not been clued in on the camera, then. Tony wondered what Thor had been thinking as Loki toyed with the items on the shelf, but Loki didn’t give Tony much time to think. “You have excellent timing. Thor was just about to depart.” 

“Really?” Tony asked. “But you just got here.” 

Thor rose from his chair. “I have much to attend to on Asgard. I apologize that I cannot stay longer.” Tony walked up to him, grinning like they hadn’t just been in the middle of a family fight. 

“That’s alright, Point Break, you can drop by anytime.” He gave Thor a playful pat on the arm, nipping at Thor’s boundaries as he had so many times before. Thor stiffened immediately. In the same moment, Tony knew something was wrong, just not what it was. 

Thor rubbed the spot on his arm, keeping his gaze trained on Tony. Then he let out a laugh, like they were about to start a game. “It has been some time since we battled together. Perhaps a quick bout of arm wrestling before we leave? It would remind me of times spent together in your tower.” 

“Clint’s not here to referee,” Tony said. 

Loki spoke over him in the same instant. “Must you show off? Tony’s mortal strength cannot best you.” 

“Ah, but that was the fun of it,” Thor said. He sat down at the table and gestured for Tony to do the same. Tony felt Loki’s hand squeeze against his side. “Come,” he said. 

Tony turned around and looked at Loki. There was a distant, reserved warning in his eyes, but he was straining not to reveal anything. On a different person, Tony would’ve said he was silently praying. Uncertain of what to do, Tony took a seat at the table. 

“Just like old times,” Tony said, grinning. He held up his hand. They had done this a hundred times before, when the entire team was together. It was a game, like not picking up Mjolnir. Only Steve had come close to beating Thor, and he had still lost spectacularly. 

Thor’s hand clasped around Tony’s. 

Loki pulled in a deep breath. 

Tony felt the slightest resistance against his hand, and then Thor was pushing his hand down towards the table. Tony didn’t make any effort to beat him. He just let his hand fall down, but this time it didn’t fly against the table like every time before. It bent down like they were going in sync. 

He stared at their hands on the table, his heart thumping anxiously. He forced a smile onto his face but felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. “You’ve still got it,” he told Thor. He laughed. 

Thor released his hand and Tony looked up just as he felt Loki move behind him. The god’s hands came over his shoulders protectively. 

“I never thought you would do this,” Thor said. The disapproval made Tony’s stomach churn. He knew it would be a hundred times worse for Loki. 

“Tony did not come unwillingly,” Loki said, instantly, fearful and anxious. 

“Loki,” Thor said. The name itself spoke volumes. It was worse than yelling. The grip on Tony’s shoulders became painful. 

“I couldn’t—” Loki said, his voice cracking in a whisper. Thor only shook his head. He wouldn’t look at either of them. Tony felt something light hit his scalp. 

“Woah, okay,” Tony said. “What’s happening? Point Break, Thunderstruck, Bob the Builder, come on now. I don’t like the vibes you’re giving off.” He laughed again.

Thor breathed in deeply. When he answered, his vision did not leave the table. “Partaking in the apples of Idunn is a serious matter, Tony Stark.” 

The grip of his shoulders became like a vice. Tony reached up a hand and set them over one of Loki’s. They were ice cold. “Yeah, thanks for the advice, but I’ve kind of already made my decision, which, by the way, was totally mine to make. And before you get all, Tony doesn’t think it through on me, yeah, I did,” he said, shooting Thor a condescending look that went completely ignored, “A lot. And this is what I want. Don’t blame Loki.” 

Thor didn’t move a muscle. 

Loki didn’t say anything, or move his hands. Tony felt them pushing down against him as his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. “Alright,” Tony said, glib gone from his voice. “Say what you want about it, but it’s done. There’s no going back.” Tony let that hang in the air for a bit. Loki shifted the weight on his feet behind him, but that was the only response. “Now I don’t know what kind of Asgardian shit storm is going to go down over this, but Thor, if you respect your brother, don’t tell.” 

“Who are you to tell me of respect towards my brother?” Thor asked. Tony had never had Thor’s honest anger directed towards him so bluntly before. Thor was always holding back, being kinder than he had to be around them, like maybe he’d break them. 

“Fine. We’re both asking you not to tell,” Tony said. “Do you think you can handle that? I need you to pinky promise me, Thunderstruck.” 

Thor rose up from the table slowly. It was the first time Tony had truly felt intimidated by him. Now he was all muscle and power. Tony was grateful for the hands on his shoulders. “I will not tell,” Thor announced. He turned and stared at Loki. The younger god’s face was devoid of color. His bloodshot eyes froze in Thor’s stare. “But I only keep your secret because I love you. I do not think you know what you have brought upon yourself.” 

He turned his back to them, red cape swinging in the motion. “I will show myself out.” Neither Tony nor Loki moved. Tony’s heart was pounding. He was terrified, and he didn’t know why. This was Thor. Golden retriever Thor. He wouldn’t…he couldn’t be frightening. When the door creaked closed, Loki collapsed against Tony. His arms wrapped around the man’s chest as he tucked his head against the man’s neck. 

The hairs on Tony’s neck rose as he felt Loki’s short breath pound against his skin. “That went well,” Tony said. 

Loki just made a quiet moan. “It…can’t be that bad,” Tony said. “Once he gets over the shock, he’ll be fine. He’ll…he will.” 

Loki’s head moved back and forth in an unspoken no against his neck. At length he stood up, wiping his hand across his face. Slowly, some of the color returned. 

Tony felt boneless in the chair. He also felt like he was going to throw up. He sat there limply until he heard Loki begin to walk away. “Wait,” Tony said. Loki stopped. Tony got up from his chair and walked over to his side. “It can’t be that bad, right?” Tony asked, wrapping his arm back around Loki. 

They began walking towards the door. “He has agreed to keep his mouth shut,” Loki said slowly. “He…does keep his word.” 

Tony curled his arm around Loki tighter. The god was terribly pale, and Tony did not think the tremor he felt was in his imagination. “Sorry babe, I didn’t think he’d figure it out so easily.” Tony laughed a little, desperate just to have something light. 

“Refusing his challenge would have been an admission,” Loki said. He matched his gait to Tony’s shorter one as they both unconsciously navigated towards their bedroom. “Though I never expected him to have the suspicion, let alone be so perceptive…” 

Tony sighed. “Though his physical awareness is keen, so he would notice the difference from the impact of your arm,” Loki said. “It is hard not to.” 

“Wait,” Tony said. “How different is it? How different am I from before?” Loki opened and pulled in a hesitant breath. “There’s that much of a difference?” 

“It is quite noticeable,” Loki admitted. 

Tony felt like he was withering inside. “So I—” He began, his voice wavering. “Was I—”

“You were fine,” Loki said, halting and turning so that his chin rested on top of Tony’s head. 

“Fine,” Tony said. “Nobody wants to be fine, fine’s not good, it’s fine.” 

“You never left me wanting,” Loki muttered. Tony was starting to pout, whether he would admit to it or not, and Loki did not want to see Tony’s insecurity become inflamed. “Did it never frustrate you that I could move you without effort? Asgardians could fall from your sky unharmed, as Thor did. I knew that when I dropped him.” He began walking again, his arm over Tony’s shoulder. “Please do not dwell on it.” 

Tony’s muscles relaxed in his grip again. “I just didn’t know it was that much of a difference.” 

“I never cared,” Loki said. “I rather miss it,” he admitted. 

Tony had to grin at that. “I know,” he said. They fell quiet. Tony’s mind was busy processing twenty things at once when he felt a faint shiver from Loki. “It can’t be that bad,” Tony said. “Thor will adjust to it. Asgard will too.” He jostled Loki playfully a little bit with his arm, but it didn’t earn him anything but a grimace. They came to their bedroom doors. “Come on. I’ve never seen you so spooked.” 

“You have no idea of what Asgard is capable of,” Loki said gloomily. He released Tony and walked into the room alone. 

“Yeah, but, it kind of seems like your family still likes you,” Tony said carefully. “Maybe they won’t freak out completely.” Loki sat down in the desk chair. He ran a hand over his face, rubbing his cheekbone, before curling it beneath his chin. Tony avoided the mud on the floor as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “We always come back, Loki.” Tony leaned his elbows against his knees, propping his head in his hands. “That’s the thing about you and me. They couldn’t stop us if they tried.” 

Loki swung his feet up onto the desk. He folded his hands together in his lap and stared out the window. Tony tucked his feet under the bed. His heel hit something. 

There was a loud cry as Brynjar stirred to life. He walked out from beneath the bed, blinking his beady eyes. His fur was drenched in mud. Loki’s eyes flickered towards him and then back out the window. 

Tony leaned down and picked him up. The ram squeaked. “What did you do, huh?” Brynjar laid down in his hands. There was no antagonism in him as he stared at Tony. He spoke in short little bleats, as if he was telling Tony a story. Tony listened for a while as the creature went on and on. “I should’ve programmed you to speak English,” Tony said. 

There was more rustling from beneath the bed. He had awoken his companion. Andor trotted out, looking no less muddy, surveying the room. When he spotted Brynjar in Tony’s hands he made a low growl. Brynjar barked back at him. 

“Alright,” Tony said. He got off the bed and walked into the bathroom, Andor at his heels. Tony turned on the sink. “You’re a mess,” Tony scolded him. “And I’m coming for you next,” Tony told the one on the floor. Andor seemed none the wiser. Tony grabbed a bottle of shampoo off of the ledge of the tub. 

“Weird,” Tony said. Brynjar did not shy from the water as he expected. He was much smaller when the water soaked through his fluff. “Well, you should be nicer to me, I made you,” Tony said. He cracked open the shampoo bottle and squirted strawberry scented gel into the ram’s fluff. “Or maybe you just hate being covered in mud.” 

Loki snuck into the doorway. He leaned against the frame, careful not to alert Tony to his presence. A faint smile flickered across his lips. Andor was too busy demanding Tony’s attention to give Loki away. “Are you purring? Not that I’m complaining, not at all, I’m just kind of surprised that I still have my fingers right now,” Tony told the ram. He mewed at him, shaking his coat. Tony covered his face with his arm as water hit him. “That’s more like what I expected,” Tony said. 

Loki rested his head against the doorframe. He felt the smile tugging at his lips as the late afternoon sun hit Tony’s hair. His back was hunched over the sink, displaying the sharp curves of his shoulder blades as he rinsed Andor. Loki did not regret his decision at all, however damning the consequences might be. “Hold still,” Tony said, shutting off the sink and reaching over for a towel. The ram bleated as he rubbed the towel against its fur, thoroughly fluffing it. When Tony turned around, Brynjar’s head was sticking out of the fluffy green towel. Tony smiled sheepishly, noticing Loki in the doorway. “Your towel was closer.” 

“No matter,” Loki said. He raised an eyebrow towards Andor. “You may use yours for him.” 

Tony bent down to the floor to release Brynjar. The ram brushed against Loki’s legs, getting water on his boots as he ran into the bedroom. “Or you could wash Andor,” Tony suggested hopefully. 

“Do you not recall our conversation from this morning?” Loki asked. Tony rolled his eyes and pushed out a dramatic sigh. He reached out to grab Andor. 

The ram was thrilled with the development until his feet reached the sink. Tony turned on the water. 

“OUCH!” Tony yelled. He spun around, eyes wide. “He bit me!” 

Loki walked up to the sink and took Tony’s hand, babying him like a small child. “Hmm,” Loki said. “The skin looks as though it is in tact. I do believe that you will live.” 

“You take him,” Tony said, taking his hand back and sucking on the injured spot. Loki grabbed his hand back. 

“No,” he said. He set the shampoo bottle in Tony’s hand. “You are quite capable.” Tony glared at him, then gave in and tried pleading again. 

“I’ll do that thing you like,” Tony said. 

“What thing?” Loki asked innocently. 

“You know what thing,” Tony said, his face turning a few shades redder. Loki pushed his way in closer towards the sink to stand by Tony’s side. 

“No,” Loki said. “You will not charm your way out of this.” Tony stared down at Andor, who had sequestered himself in the section of the sink furtherest from the water. He grabbed Andor. 

The ram fought him as he soaked its coat and squirted shampoo on as quickly as he could. Tony dropped him as he tried to bite again. “Andor,” Loki snapped. The ram closed its mouth. Tony’s hand shuffled through its fur, cleaning it as quickly as he could. It cried as he rinsed off its fur but didn’t bite again. 

“Grab my towel,” Tony said. Loki handed him a caramel colored one.

The moment Tony got Andor in the towel he jumped and landed on the floor. With a triumphant shake of his coat he started for the door.

Loki blocked his exit. The ram shot off into the corner, hiding behind the tub. 

Tony got on his knees and reached his arm behind the tub. Just as Tony’s fingers grazed his fur, he jumped up and tumbled back onto the floor. 

Loki ducked down and grabbed him. Andor shook, splattering water across Loki’s face and chest. Tony tossed the towel at him. Loki fluffed it back and forth over Andor’s fur as quickly as he could. Tony carefully stepped out from beside the tub. “Is that really worth not hocus pocusing the whole deal?” 

Loki fluffed the towel two more times before pulling it back. Andor turned around and bleated angrily at him and Tony. Once he was certain that they both had heard how displeased he was, he ran from the room. Loki laughed. It was a tired but relieved sound. 

Loki’s tired eyes turned their focus on Tony. “Your shirt is soaking wet,” he said. 

“Yeah?” Tony asked. He ripped his shirt off and dropped it on the ground. “Your perfect hair got ruined.” Loki huffed out a little laugh. He rubbed his face, still seated on the floor. He looked horribly exhausted. Tony’s headache hadn’t let up. “I guess more than the rams need a bath,” he said. He turned the water on. 

Loki watched him dump bottles of bubbling potions and perfumes into the tub, then strip his clothes and climb in. Tony closed his eyes. “Join me or don’t,” he said. 

“You put far too much perfume in,” Loki said. His clothes vanished and reappeared in the bedroom. The water rippled and pooled as he stepped into the tub. Tony opened up his arms, guiding him to lay with his back against his chest. 

Tony couldn’t decide whether he wanted to fall asleep or not. Loki’s head fell against his shoulder. His eyes fell shut. 

“You were right about that hangover,” Tony said against his ear. 

Loki smirked. “Whenever am I not right?” 

Tony pinched his arm. Loki’s body relaxed against his chest. Tony let his head drop against the back of the tub. He wrapped his legs over Loki’s. “Thank you,” Tony muttered. 

“For?” Loki asked quietly. The bathroom had become quite humid. He let all of his weight fall into Tony. 

“I didn’t realize how much you did for that apple,” Tony said quietly. “Or…the things that were said today, I…” Tony wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. He wrapped his warm arms around Loki’s waist. 

Loki rested his hands on Tony’s thighs. “Do not tell Jane what you heard in the kitchen,” Loki said. Tony jumped a little. Loki smirked as his head was shaken against Tony’s chest. “I know you were listening,” Loki said. He paused. “I would have done the same.” 

“Are you going to tell me what you said in the dining room?” Tony pushed his luck. 

“If I wished for you to hear, I would’ve allowed the camera to be,” Loki said. He tilted his head back to catch a glimpse of Tony. “I merely brought up old grievances.” Tony’s grip around his waist tightened again. Loki closed his eyes again, focusing on the feel of Tony holding him and the warm, sudsy water. “Today’s encounter was rather tame, compared to what has been.” 

“It’s the first time I’ve actually felt uncomfortable around Thor,” Tony said. “I mean, I’ve pissed him off or whatever, but this was…different.” 

Loki tilted his head back to catch a glimpse of Tony again. An amused, curious look had lit up his face. “What do you mean?” 

Tony hummed. “Let’s put it as I didn’t think that Thor thought Midgardians were fragile until today.” He nosed at the curling hair on Loki’s head. The humidity was making it frizz and twist. “Kinda like I didn’t know someone else did.” 

“Nonsense,” Loki said. “I reminded you of your fragile form plenty of times.” He rubbed his fingers tips through soap bubbles, guiding it over Tony’s wet skin. 

“That’s true,” Tony said. “I guess I—” He grinned beneath his soft brown eyes. “Didn’t think that Thor would pick up on something being out of place from a simple tap.” 

Loki shut his eyes and listened to water drip back into the tub as he lifted his hand up and submerged it repeatedly. “He would be able to recognize your physical strength the same way I would recognize magic coursing through you.” Tony’s nose brushed at his hair again. Water sloshed as he shifted his legs in the tub. 

“So what’re we going to do?” Tony asked. “With the two of us plotting, we probably won’t have anything to worry about.” 

Tony’s spine pressed into the back of the tub as Loki readjusted himself. He drummed his fingertips along the edge of the tub, spilling water and soap onto the floor. “Perhaps we can stave it off for a few years, until your lack of aging goes noticed. Then…” Tony squeezed his chest. “Perhaps it would be best if we were to fake our death.” 

Tony laughed, not realizing that Loki was serious. “And abandon this place and all the places you claimed? If you want to build something, you need a base.” 

“Yes,” Loki agreed sharply. He shifted until he was facing Tony, his arm balanced across the man’s scarred but reactor free chest. A drop of water rolled down past his astute eyes and fell from his chin as he stared at the man. Tony carded his fingers through Loki’s dark hair, pushing it back over his shoulder. “Odin would not hesitate to imprison me, or kill me, were I not to serve his purposes. Mother and Thor will not betray him for me, and regardless, he is yet the king and wields more power than them. You are not Asgardian, and thus Odin has no incentive to keep you.” 

Tony combed his fingers through the lock of hair he’d been playing with. He did not look upward as he spoke, leaving Loki with a view of his water flecked eyelashes. “So you stole an apple. You also invaded Earth, and Thor invaded Jotunheim, and you’re both still here.” He set his arm down along the tub’s rim. “Maybe it’ll just be a slap on the wrist.” 

Loki sighed disapprovingly and turned back around. He grabbed Tony’s arms and tucked them over himself, kicking the water back on with his feet. He closed his eyes as the tub got warmer. 

“Think of it like this,” Tony said. The water was about to run over the tub. He tried to kick the water off but missed. Loki leisurely reached up his leg and turned the knob off. “It took what, five humans to bring down an alien invasion? I’m not saying that to rub it in, and remember you were up against me babe, so you didn’t have a chance anyway—”

Loki made a soft sound deep in his throat. “Did I not tell you how I detest that term of endearment?” 

“Lolo then—”

“I take it back.” 

“Right,” Tony said. “So five of us against an alien army, and we came out on top. I think we did pretty good. So if Asgard wants to mess with that, well, they’re out of their minds.” 

A slow grin came across Loki’s tired face. “And,” Tony said. “Now that you’re on my side, that’s kind of like combining the two forces, so it’d be a super bad idea.” 

“We cannot exactly bring an army with us,” Loki said. 

“Why not?” Tony asked. “We’re fun sized anyway. Oh,” he said, wiggling down deeper into the tub and letting the water come in around his shoulders. “We’ll have a sleepover. We’ll just bring all the Avengers along, and if it so happens that Asgard finds out about my new lifespan at the same time, then we’ll have a few people on our side.” 

Loki shook his head against Tony’s chest, water spilling past his cheekbones before he inched back up. “Stark, what an excellent plan. It’s unfathomable how Asgard has gone on for millennia without falling to a handful of Midgardians.” 

“I know, right?” Tony said. 

Loki’s eye roll was hidden beneath his closed eyes. Mutually exhausted, they fell silent. Loki’s mind never ceased its insistent line of thought, weighing different schemes. Tony, however, was succumbing to his headache. He began to fall asleep. 

The sharp bleating in the room woke him. “I think they wish to join us,” Loki said. 

“Like hell,” Tony said. 

Loki pulled Tony’s limp arms in around him. The sound of little feet receded. Somewhere in the bedroom something crashed against the floor. “Not dealing with that,” Tony muttered. 

Loki snapped his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up so much longer than I anticipated, the characters all had a lot they wanted to say! (even Brynjar, who we can't understand anyway)
> 
> As always feedback is appreciated and thanks for reading!


	37. Cheer Up

“Wanna go somewhere today?” Tony asked, rubbing his eye as he trudged into the kitchen. 

Loki was hunched over the table, reading a book with Brynjar in his lap as he ate breakfast. “No,” Loki said curtly without glancing up. Tony ruffled his hand through his short hair. After the bath they’d gone to sleep without talking, and Tony didn’t have high expectations for the first day after Thor’s visit. He made himself a cup of coffee in the too quiet kitchen, then grabbed a pack of toaster pastries. He dropped one on the floor for Andor. 

“I’ll be in the lab,” Tony said. He didn’t get an answer. 

He wasn’t put out by that. Sometimes Loki just needed some time and space to come around, so Tony disappeared downstairs without thinking about it too hard. Around noon, the little rams burst in, so he stuck them in their enclosure and went back to work. He took from his lab stash for dinner, and kept entertained by Jarvis until it was late at night. When Tony eventually crawled into bed, Loki was already asleep. For a few minutes Tony stayed awake, with the dim hope that Loki would roll over and say something, until it was clear that the god was indeed asleep and nothing would happen. Tony fell into dreamless sleep. 

 

When he woke up the bed was cold. Tony sluggishly wandered into the kitchen, expecting to find Loki hunched over the table again. The room was empty. Tony sighed and began making coffee. He hoped that Loki had cheered up a little. He couldn’t go without interpersonal interaction for the same length of time that Loki could. As Tony poured himself a cup, he found himself wishing that this had happened when they were at the tower, so he’d at least have someone to keep him entertained. The thought was chased by a worry that Loki might’ve gone somewhere without telling him. 

Tony grabbed his coffee and another pack of toaster pastries before retreating to the lab. Jarvis wasn’t wired throughout the building to answer him, though he had presence in patches, and Tony didn’t have his tablet with him. In the lab, he could at least ask Jarvis where Loki was, and scan the area. Halfway through his route, he was joined by Brynjar. The ram trotted up to him, saying nothing. “That answers my question,” Tony said, rounding a corner. Loki was probably home if he’d taken the rams from the enclosure. “Where’s your buddy?” He was answered with nothing but the sound of clopping feet. 

When they got into the lab, Tony sat down at his desk. Jarvis informed him that Loki was in the garden, and while he couldn’t account for Andor’s whereabouts, he assumed that he was somewhere in the proximity. “I guess it’s just you and me today,” Tony told the ram curled up against his ankle. He dropped a pastry on the floor. Brynjar sniffed it, then left it alone. “It’s not toxic,” Tony grumbled, wishing he’d kept it for himself. 

The second day was harder as it dragged on. He was continually distracted from his work by nagging little thoughts and worries. Maybe he hadn’t given enough credit. Maybe Asgard was something to be _terrified_ of. Yet, Tony couldn’t quite find it in himself to be terrified. Maybe it would be difficult, or hard, but he truly believed that things would be okay. He still believed in Thor, even if recent events had unsettled him, and despite how Loki told it, Tony was sure that there had to be at least one person on Asgard that would be on their side. Even if there wasn’t, Tony still thought they’d find a way. Throwing the towel in to doubt and giving up wasn't his to consider. 

A crunching sound dislodged his thoughts. Tony glanced down to see Brynjar gnawing on the edges of the pastry, avoiding the icing. He moved his feet away, bunching himself up into the chair to feel safer as tiny teeth flashed. The crunching carried on as he stared distantly at the lab. Little patches of gold and blue lights illuminated instruments, a few artifacts, and his underused suit in the corner. After a while, Tony’s attention returned to Brynjar. He’d avoided the icing and the fruit filling entirely. When there was nothing left of the bland edge, he let out a disappointed whine and laid back down. “That’s an idea,” Tony said. 

The computer chair spun around in circles as Tony stood up. The ram stared at him for a moment, gleaning nothing from the man’s dark eyes, and trailed after him when he started for the kitchen. 

“Let’s see,” Tony said, opening a cupboard. There was plenty left from Earth. Tony had packed an impressive amount of food this time, despite how his tastes had changed. He preferred the familiarity. “He likes sweet things,” Tony told Brynjar, treating him like Jarvis. Brynjar said nothing, but watched Tony closely from the floor, his little helmeted head following Tony’s movements. “I made cinnamon rolls for him, and those were a hit…” Tony opened the refrigerator. It was one of the concessions that Loki had made, allowing him to stock the kitchen with Midgardian appliances. He ducked down and pulled open a drawer. “I wish I’d thought of this sooner in the day. Then it could’ve been breakfast in bed.” 

He stood up with a tube of cinnamon bun dough. “Don’t give me that look,” he told Brynjar. “It’s called breakfast for lunch, and what Tony has and knows how to make.” He turned the oven on with a dismissive, annoyed grunt towards the ram. Brynjar watched him cross back and forth through the kitchen for the next hour, scrambling eggs and prying blackened cinnamon rolls off the pan. Tony cut off the bottoms with a “he’ll never notice,” and stuck them on a plate that was then drenched with icing. A heavy, fatty smell filled the kitchen, along with loud sizzling that Tony didn’t seem to notice as he smeared the icing around. Brynjar bleated loudly. “What?” 

“Oh,” Tony said. The bacon was starting to burn. He rushed over to the stove, swearing as he grabbed pieces with a pair of tongs. “I only lost a couple of them,” he told the ram with a wink. 

He waved off the smoke with a towel, coughing. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” Tony said. He turned off the stove and beat the towel in the air a few more times. He heard hooves excitedly run across the floor, followed by a loud bleat. “What are you—” Tony turned around and saw Loki standing in the doorway. He did not appear thrilled, and much gloomier than yesterday. Tony wiped his hands nervously on the towel.

Andor’s complaints filled the silence. Overjoyed at finding Brynjar, he was now bemoaning his unexplained absence. “I made lunch,” Tony said cheerfully. He set the towel on the counter behind him. “Why don’t you grab a seat?” 

Loki’s eyes slid past Tony to settle on the crisp, blackened strips of fat behind him. His nostrils flared briefly as the smell of burnt meat assaulted his nose. “One would think that for someone so capable in engineering, you could master a simple recipe. It is nothing but proportions and timing.” He pushed a lock of his long black hair back behind his ear with his pointer finger. “Really,” he said coldly. “I find this deficiency of yours baffling.” Tony felt a dark blush creep along his cheek, embarrassment overriding all else before Loki’s gaze made contact with his again. Loki held it for a moment before turning and disappearing back into the hall, his shoulders hunched inward and his pace weary and disjointed. 

“Whew!” Tony exclaimed when Loki was out of ear shot. “What an asshole.” He grabbed the towel and twisted it between his hands, fraying the fibers in the middle. He tossed it back on the counter without noticing the damage he’d done. “Don’t take it out on me,” Tony said. He made himself a plate from what he’d cooked and set it on the table. “At least it won’t go to waste,” he told the two rams eagerly watching him. 

Tony put the rest of the dishes onto the floor and settled back into his chair at the table as they tore in. He ate the bacon on his plate first, watching the rams enjoy their feast. He was intrigued. Brynjar was showing a preference in foods, which neither had done before. He navigated his way around anything sweet, and devoured what was savory. Andor, on the other hand, did not distinguish. The observation and consequent theories were almost enough to keep Tony from feeling sore and angry over the undeserved comment. Almost. 

The rams stayed with him in the lab for the rest of the day, as Tony alternated between fuming and worried. When he put them away for the night in their enclosure, he checked with Jarvis that Loki was asleep, and only went to bed when the answer was yes. 

For a brief moment he’d considered using one of the hundred guest rooms to sleep in, but that seemed like letting Loki win. He pulled the covers to his side, hoping that Loki would wake up cold, and fell right asleep. 

 

On the third day, Loki woke up as sunrise entered the room. He turned over onto his side to find that Tony had rolled into a ball with all of the covers tangled around him like a cocoon. For a blessed moment he forgot about yesterday, and thought about reaching out to pull himself in closer to Tony. He curled his hand into a fist, his nails biting his palm. Guilt struck sharp and fast. He’d felt bad about what he’d said right after he said it. 

Disgusted with himself, he’d turned and walked out, regretting the decision the entire walk back to the garden. He wanted Tony to lavish attention on him, but he didn’t deserve it. 

He rolled back over and stared at the bedroom wall instead, aware of how tightly his eyebrows had pulled in together. He relaxed his face. He pulled himself out of bed, pretending that he’d thought of nothing instead, and made his way to the kitchen. 

It wasn’t until he saw that there were no leftovers from Tony’s meal that he realized he had been looking for them at all. Loki let the refrigerator door swing closed as disappointment flooded him. He made tea from Asgard instead, deliberately avoiding all the mortal food Tony had lugged back with them. 

Perhaps if he weren’t moved by something so insignificant as a meal, perhaps if he weren’t so wanting, so sentimental and _weak_ , they wouldn’t be in the predicament they were in now. If he hadn’t been so wanting, if he’d showed a little restraint instead of craving Tony, he wouldn’t have endangered them both. 

He began towards the garden, carrying a tray with tea and meat filled bread pockets. He was still too weak to begrudge himself for taking the apple and turning Tony, though he knew he should. It was not Tony’s fault that he did not understand the severity of the situation. He sat down on a stone bench in the rose garden and tore a bite out of the meat bun. Unless forgiven, it was a crime punishable by death, and he wasn’t certain whose death that would be. 

If they chose to punish Tony, if he had to live through losing the man just after he’d finally gotten him… 

He burned his fingers as he spilt tea across them. Swearing, he amended the mess with an irritable wave of his hand. The tea burned his throat as he swallowed. 

He knew he’d make the same choice again, he knew he’d always choose to keep Tony because he was weak, but he’d thought that he could keep it a secret longer, long enough that he could figure a way out or make them disappear completely, if only Thor hadn’t…that thought reopened an old wound. Loki sat there, festering in his own thoughts until the tea went cold. 

He vanished the tray back to the kitchen and laid down against the cold bench, staring up at the empty blue sky. Why couldn’t he just accept that he was cursed? Why did he have to keep trying, to keep disappointing himself? He should’ve known better. 

When he finally got off the bench, with the intention of distracting himself with the rams, he realized that it was too late in the day. Tony would be awake, which meant that he was in the lab with their enclosure. Loki sat back down and materialized himself a book instead. 

When the first stars appeared in the sky, Loki heard a faint rustling in the bushes. He leaned his torso up off the bench, not getting up but looking for the source of the noise. “Fuck, who plants this shit,” Tony’s voice said. He emerged into the garden alcove, shaking his hand. A thorn had cut a thin line across his knuckles. For a split second Loki felt hopeful, but then he put his guard up. “Get up,” Tony said, wiping the blood off on his shirt. “Don’t argue, just come.” 

Loki sat up, his stiff back and muscles griping as he did. Tony extended his unscathed hand. “Come on,” Tony urged him impatiently. 

When Loki grabbed his hand, Tony was not in the least bit surprised to feel his cut heal. He tugged at Loki’s arm, leading him back into the house and out a door into the forest instead. He had a bright light in his hand that illuminated way into the distance. Loki didn’t say anything as Tony dragged him into the forest, where Tony followed a narrow, winding path. Tree branches snapped back at them as Tony pushed through. “Just in case you’re wondering, I’m not leading you to your death in this creepy ass forest, although in a court of law they'd take my side after they heard what you said about my cooking.” Tony’s voice didn’t quite muster the usual carelessness, but Loki felt a fraction relieved anyway. “But if you hole yourself up another goddamn day, I will, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

The word seemed to take on a life of its own in the dark woods. Tony’s light beam caught the edges of limbs and leaves that morphed into beasts and demons in the night. He tightened his grip on the man’s hand. Could he not sense the magic this forest held? Of course not. He rolled his eyes, inwardly impressed by the man’s audacity all the same. 

They heard the waves breaking before Tony stumbled into sand, his arm bobbing with Loki’s as they adjusted to the uneven surface. There was a small campfire going, and a large, shadowed box several yards from it. “I think the best way to take care of problems,” Tony announced, “is to blow shit up.” 

He jogged across the sand, suddenly excited. Loki stayed in place. Tony dragged a large cylinder from the box, grinning from ear to ear. Loki started walking towards him. “So I made some of these rockets,” Tony said. “But I want you to know that I also found a lot of these firecrackers, which leads me to believe that somebody got into mischief here before.” 

For the first time in days, Loki smiled. “There may have been…some incidents,” he offered. 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said. “Well, fire’s there, and let’s try not to set the forest on fire, but if we do I have the feeling that it might get rid of a werewolf or two, which I wouldn’t lose sleep over—”

“There are no such beasts here—” Loki started. He realized that this was the first conversation lasting more than a sentence or two they’d had in a couple days, and he missed Tony immensely even though he was right there. “Let’s light this, shall we,” Loki said, rubbing under his nose and shoving the thought away. He pulled the biggest cylinder from the box. Tony’s manic grin matched his own as he positioned it in the sand and lit the fuse. 

Tony grabbed his shoulder and urged him back a few feet as a whistle filled the air. The rocket shot off, erupting in clouds of purple and red flares as it took off above the water. Tony’s weight fell into him as their chests heaved faster on adrenaline, watching the tiny shadow spiral above them. 

With a deafening bang, it burst into a million tiny gold lights. The surface of the water lit up in the reflection as Tony’s muffled ears filled with the sound of Loki’s laughter. “There’s more where that came from,” Tony said. 

“I should hope so,” Loki said, already back at the box. 

Tony watched him dig out another rocket with a grin on his face. 

They spent the night like that, shooting off fireworks and running for cover like kids in trouble. When the box ran out, Loki made fireworks of his own, contorting them into a light show that Tony watched with a sloppy smile on his face. The warm fire at his back was making him sleepy, but he didn’t want to lose sight of Loki weaving magic with loose, carefree sweeps of his arms, finally making mischief again.

When at last Loki tired of it, he laid down beside Tony, propping his knees up as he folded his fingers together on his stomach. Soon, the first lights of dawn would appear on the horizon. It was quiet for a moment as they stared up at the dark sky, marked by the occasional star. “That was one of your better ideas,” Loki said. 

Tony turned his head over in the sand to grin at him. “It was, wasn’t it?” He let that sit there for a minute. In the distance, a bird cried out. “Hey, uh,” Tony said, tone turning somber. Loki braced for it. “I know you don’t want to talk about it again, and I don’t really want to bring it up again, this is kind of a last resort thing but if this doesn’t work—”

“You are right,” Loki said, sparing Tony. The man rolled onto his side, openly surprised. “The consequence for stealing an apple is quite severe, and I am not quite capable of bearing it yet.” 

Tony ran back the conversations they’d had in his head, but couldn’t place what Loki was saying. “What kind of severe are we talking about?” Tony asked. 

Loki sighed. The heavy sand against his back was a relief after a day spent forcing himself to lie on the stone bench, and his sleep had been restless. He would be content to fall asleep then and there. “In all likelihood, death,” Loki said quietly. 

He didn’t expect Tony to sit up. “What?” Tony barked. The color drained out of his face. “Are you serious? And you didn’t fucking tell me?” 

Loki sneered at him. “Did I not, when we bathed together?” 

Tony huffed scornfully. “Not like that, no.” He gave Loki a look that managed to make him recoil a bit. “Excuse me if I didn’t pull that from it. I thought that was just you, freaking out and blowing things out of proportion, not some honest to god issue.” Tony’s hands fretted and grasped for something to do. “What the hell were you thinking?” 

Loki sat up until he was level with his bent knees. Tony was already on his feet, pacing as he cast frequent glances towards Loki. “Seeking their permission carried such a high risk of their denial, and then procuring one would have been impossible, so I…eliminated that possibility and chose the one with the definite outcome.” He spoke with rational certainty, as if teaching Tony a simple equation. 

“You—you’re an idiot, you know that?” Tony rubbed his hand up and down his face. “I thought maybe worst case scenario I was going to have to jail break your ass out of prison, but this…how could you do something like this?” Tony froze, staring at him with glossy eyes that captured the firelight. 

“How could I not?” Loki shouted back, anger and hurt striking across his words. 

“So, what? I’m supposed to let you die?” Tony puffed out a breath of air, trying to calm down. His words only came out louder. “Loki, I never would’ve taken it if I’d known what could happen to you! Why do you think I would?” 

“I thought I would devise a way out before it came to that,” Loki said, voice cold. He rested his chin against the arms over his knees, watching Tony keenly. “I needed you immortal before all else.” 

“You lied to me!” Tony dropped his shoulders and looked up at the sky, shaking his head. “I—how could you do that to yourself, huh? I know, you didn’t think it through, you’re so focused on getting what you want that you lose sight of the bigger picture—”

He stopped, staring at the god below him as he dug his hands against his hips, when he noticed that Loki’s self-loathing had given way to a whole new level of despair. Loki had turned his head away to hide his expression. “What?” Tony asked quietly. “What else is there?” 

Loki’s lip trembled as he reigned himself in. “I…I am not entirely certain which of us they will punish for the crime,” he said, voice cracking. 

“Oh,” Tony said quietly. Loki heard it as betrayed, but a split second later Tony said it again. “Oh Loki,” he said, gentle, grieving. He dropped to the sand, prying Loki’s arms out from around his knees and pushing himself into the god’s chest. His tense body fell backwards at the unexpected action, taking Tony with him. 

“You’re…why are you not angry?” Loki asked sharply, suspiciously. He was stiff and rigid as Tony’s warm breath drifted across his skin. 

“I am angry,” Tony said. “In fact, I’m livid, but not for the reason you think.” He leaned up and brushed the back of his hand under his eye, blinking hard. “You don’t value yourself enough, Loki.” His voice was a little broken and breathy as he spoke. “I…would never ask you to do something like that for me. It makes me angry that you’re fine if the punishment falls on you but not me. You are the most important person to me, do you get that? Why do you think I gave up everything to follow you around? It’s not for the universe, although that’s a great benefit, believe me, total perk.” Tony brushed Loki’s hair back from his face as he spoke, staring at the rolling ocean waves instead. “It’s you.” 

Tony leaned back into Loki’s stiff legs, resting an arm across the tops of his knees. “We’ve been through this before, you and my mortality. Maybe it’s my fault for not agreeing to this sooner. I didn’t have myself figured out yet, but that wasn’t on you. That wasn’t about you.” 

Loki felt some of the tension drain from his muscles into the sand, Tony’s heat seeping into his thighs. His throat was too constricted to speak comfortably. “But you keeping this from me,” Tony said. “That I am pissed about.” Loki’s mouth was dry. “I don’t know if maybe you thought you told me, but that’s a pretty roundabout way to do it and you know that. You have got to let me in, you can’t try to do everything by yourself. That’s bullshit.” Tony scratched his fingers through his own hair. “Look at the decisions we made, Loki. I don’t think either of us could _be_ more committed. And thinking that you were suffering with this by yourself because you were afraid I might not stick around, fuck, that makes me pissed.” He leaned off Loki’s legs and looked down at him. “Do you not trust me?” 

Loki shook his head, sand gritting against his scalp. “It is not a matter of trust,” he said. “I made the decision, and it is my consequence to bear.” 

“I made the decision too,” Tony said. “That answer’s not good enough.” 

Loki dug his fingers down into the sand, bile churning in his stomach. It was too late to get out of this. “Had you known the risk, hero that you are, you may have refused, and I—it is my weakness that I found that possibility unacceptable.” He sat up, ready to make an exit, but Tony had latched onto his knees again. It brought them face to face. 

“I was never a shiny, pure hero,” Tony said. “I was selfish and I lucked out.” He nodded his head to the side. “We’re in pretty deep shit, huh? But, pissed as I am, and yes, you’re going to have some making up to do, we’re going to figure this out together, alright?” Loki’s gaze dropped to the ground. It was rare for Tony to see him so vulnerable, but then again, he was capable. “I just need you to promise me something.” 

“And what would that be?” Loki asked. He was comfortable with payments and expectations, even when he loathed them. 

Tony’s expression softened. “I’m not your dad, or Thor, or Asgard. I think you’re worthy a thousand times over, even if I’m super pissed right now, because I still love you, alright? I’m a selfish bastard too, and I don’t want to let you go.” He grinned. “Why would I blame you for doing the same?” 

“That does not sound as if you ask anything of me,” Loki said, snark slipping back in with hesitation. 

“Act like it,” Tony said. “Act like you’re worthy, to you, because you are.” He shifted his weight. “We’ll get through this, and when we do, I don’t ever want to watch you make a decision that hurts you like this again.” The honesty in his voice was almost uncomfortable to hear, and probably equally uncomfortable for Tony to say. “Alright?” 

“Fine,” Loki said, reaching up and grabbing the edge of Tony’s shirt. His gaze bore into Tony’s eyes as if there was a great deal more he wanted to say, but then he was pulling a touch-starved Tony into a searing kiss, knocking the fight right out of him. 

Loki gasped for a breath of the cold night air. “Fine,” he said. They got up to their feet. Tony started walking towards the edge of the forest. He paused a few feet in and looked back. It was clear that he was still angry, even if his mouth had been all too welcoming and eager. Loki had not moved from the dying fire. “How can you be calm, when so great a threat, a threat that I brought on, looms overhead?” 

Tony’s patience snapped. He marched across the sand and grabbed ahold of Loki’s arm. “Mmm, yeah, you’re going to have some making up to do for not being forthcoming about this, aren't you? Yeah, you are. But I’ll say it again and again until it gets through your thick skull, I’m in this with you.” He yanked Loki back towards the forest path, the god’s limp form stumbling as he did. “Good or bad Loki, we’re both in this pretty deep. And I get it,” Tony said. “This is new for you. You might not believe me, but I understand why you made the decisions you did.” The light in his hand flickered on, illuminating the path. “I get you better than you think.” Tony shoved a tree branch out of the way. “You forget I’m a genius sometimes.” 

Loki sighed out a breath as the last three days started catching up with him again. “I know who I picked, and I’ve known a lot of people,” Tony said. “Now let’s get our asses to bed before I pass out.” 

Dawn had just crept over the horizon when they made it to the door of the house. Quietly they padded through the hallways and crawled into bed. 

Tony threw the covers open and rolled onto his side. Loki stared at his outline for a long minute before deciding he could draw himself in, pressing his chest to the man’s back. Tony dropped back into the contact.


	38. Luck

Loki stirred awake, finding that the room was filled from floor to ceiling with bright yellow light. Sitting up, he rubbed at his eyes. His sore muscles complained, and as he slowly reoriented himself, the night from before came flooding back, spiraling with images of fireworks and Tony’s ever changing expression. _I am angry. In fact, I’m livid._ Loki groaned. An angry Tony was not something that was easy to deal with. 

He looked out the window, his shoulders hunched forward as he watched black birds hop across thin tree branches. 

At least this was still preferable, compared to what could have been. He slumped forward in the sheets onto his stomach, kicking the covers from around his legs and staring down at the floor. Footsteps padded into the room. 

“I think we’re going to have to swing back by the tower,” Tony said. Loki glanced up. Tony’s gaze had not left the tablet he was staring at, his lips twisted unhappily to the side. 

“Whatever for,” Loki asked, pushing himself up onto his elbow. 

Tony’s eyes were bright when they fell on him. Loki’s suspicion stirred immediately. “I need to look some stuff up.” 

“You can’t do that here?” Loki asked as he sat up.

“No,” Tony said with a long _o_ , tapping at something on the tablet while Loki got out of the bed. “This doesn’t exactly hook up to Earth’s wifi.” 

Now Loki was curious. He took a step towards Tony, wondering where the man’s anger had vanished off to. “And what exactly are you inquiring after?” 

Tony patted his shoulder. “Let me worry about that,” he said glibly. His hand snuck behind Loki’s ear as he pushed a lock of hair back. “But I’d like to go today. Sooner is better. We don’t have to spend a lot of time there, I really just need wifi. Though we can, if you want.” Tony raised his eyebrow as if he already knew the answer. 

“That is alright,” Loki said, rubbing his arm. He held it still over his chest as he studied Tony. There was a tiny smile dancing on the man’s mouth as he engrossed himself in the tablet, like he had a secret. “I will take you after I bathe.” 

Tony turned and started walking out of the room, his bare feet thudding against the floor. “Don’t swim in there, alright?” He said, voice already detached and distracted. 

Loki rolled his eyes. As if he would have the time. It would only be moments until Tony impatiently knocked at the door, demanding that they get going so that he could chase after whatever rabbit it was this time. Loki paused. He walked to the hallway door to catch another glimpse of the man, but Tony was already gone down the hall. Loki drummed his fingers against his arm. What was it exactly that had caught Tony’s attention? 

Knowing the engineer, it could be as simple as a mechanical design. Or…the skin on his forehead pinched tight as he considered. He let his shoulders drop with a sigh. It probably was a mechanical design, knowing Tony. He went to the bath, figuring that it would be far simpler to just watch Tony and see the answer, rather than tease it out of him. 

Tony was sitting on the bed facing the bathroom door when he came out. “Ready?” Tony asked as Loki stared at him with wet hair. Magic crackled across his fingertips as he began drying it, ignoring Tony and walking into the dressing room. The man’s head popped around the corner just as Loki dropped the towel from his waist to the floor. 

“You can stop staring and demonstrate an iota of patience,” Loki said. He didn’t have to turn around to feel Tony watching him. A hanger screeched as he shoved it aside, searching for different attire. 

“I’m not staring, I’m appreciating,” Tony said. 

Loki’s head snapped towards him, a vivid glower on his face. Tony’s head vanished. A small grin tugged at Loki’s mouth as he turned back. He got dressed at his own pace, fixing the silver clasps across his dark shirt with adept fingers. He stood taller and lifted up his chin. He didn’t want to approach the topic of last night with Tony if there was any way around it, but he wasn’t comfortable with Tony lacking any obvious tells of unresolved anger either. 

Tony was sitting cross legged on the bed, playing with the tablet as the rams stared up at him. “They wish for you to feed them,” Loki said, his boots thudding against the floor as he entered the room. 

“Not happening,” Tony said. 

“You overindulge them,” Loki said. He bent down and picked them up, tucking them side by side beneath his arm. They were unusually compliant, staying remarkably still as their little eyes followed Tony. “They associate you with food.” He extended his free hand for Tony to take. 

Tony stood on the floor, now that it was safe. He reached for Loki’s hand but stopped halfway. “You’re not taking them with us, are you?” 

“Yes,” Loki said sharply. He grabbed Tony’s hand. 

“For a five minute trip,” Tony said without skipping a beat, taking a seat on his bed in the tower. Loki sat down beside him, setting the rams in his lap as he took in the room. It felt odd to be on Midgard again, but probably because in many ways, until they had moved to the new house he did not realize that he had come to think of the tower as home. “It feels so good to be connected,” Tony said, praising the wifi. 

Loki stroked his fingers through the ram’s fur, alternating between them. The mattress jostled as Tony scooted away from him, hiding the screen. 

Loki’s arm came around his wrist like a vice grip. “Are we hiding something, Stark?” 

“Just copious amounts of porn,” Tony said, tossing the tablet into his other hand and hanging that arm out of Loki’s reach. Loki made a disgusted noise. He released Tony’s wrist when the man tugged. “Now give me five minutes. No, ten.” Loki’s fingernail snagged on one of Brynjar’s curls. The ram let out a little bleat as Loki soothed the offended spot. He stood from the bed, carrying Brynjar and leaving Andor to explore Tony’s bed. The man didn’t seem to notice him wriggle under the covers and disappear. 

He paced Tony’s room, stroking Brynjar as he inspected the things that Tony had left behind. The room did not feel empty, or even as if it hadn’t been lived in for a while. Loki stopped when he got to the photographs that sat on the dresser, coated in a faint line of dust. Rhodey and Tony smiled back at him, face plates from their iron suits pulled up to display grins a few years younger. He had seen the photo before, tucked inside a desk drawer in a different frame. 

“Perhaps we should stay a while,” Loki said. “Your companions have not spent time with you recently.” 

Tony didn't answer immediately. The light from his tablet reflected against his face as he frowned. “It’s the middle of the day, they’re not even here, and I said I’d be back for the holidays,” he said lightly. 

Loki stared at him. “We can spare the time.” 

“I want to finish this, and I need my lab to do that,” Tony said. He flicked at something on the screen irritably, though his voice betrayed none of his frustration. He was lying, Loki decided, but he could not find a reason for it. 

_My lab_ , Loki thought. So the one at their other home was his lab now instead of the one here in the tower. The home that Tony referred to as “our castle”. Loki started pacing again. They hadn’t even been to the other properties, though that hadn’t been their intention. “Done,” Tony said, interrupting his thoughts. 

He got up from the bed, swinging the case on the tablet closed just as a little bump in the sheets reached where he had been seated. Tony took two steps towards Loki before he noticed that Andor was missing. Immediately his attention went to the floor. “Where is he?” Tony didn’t wait for an answer. He threw back the covers, swearing as the ram coughed out a feather from the pillow it had munched on. “Can we go?” Tony asked, turning and staring at Loki. 

“Perhaps we can go to one of our other places,” Loki suggested. 

“My lab,” Tony said. He got out of the way as Loki reached behind him and snatched Andor. “We can go exploring when this is done.” 

“And this is…?” Loki asked. 

Tony tapped the closed tablet case against his chin. “This,” he said, “you’ll know all about when I’ve finished my homework.” He reached his hand out expectantly. “C’mon.” 

Almost reluctantly, Loki took them back. 

And the moment they were home, Tony went straight for his lab. Loki could not decide whether he was annoyed or relieved. He let the rams loose to do as they pleased and went to the garden instead. He was charming a rather vile herb into growing, and several other equally dangerous and rare varieties of plants as well. It was a mild distraction from brooding over the current situation. The light began fading from the sky as he worked, reliving the night before. 

Tony found him with a long pair of silver shears in his hands, brutally slicing the necks off of a thorny vine. “Am I interrupting something?” Tony asked, eying the sizable pile of snapped branches on the ground. Loki dropped the shears. They landed blade first in the ground, suspending their engraved black handles upwards. 

“No,” he said. 

Tony twisted his grimace into a smile. “I don't want to get between you and anger management, sunshine.” The word hung awkwardly in the air. Loki pulled his shoulders back and dusted off his hands. Tony tilted his head to the side a little, looking past Loki to the plants he was tending. “What are those?” It was clear from his face that he was committing them to memory, intending to look them up later. “I don’t need to keep an eye out for the space police, do I?” He teased. 

Loki took a long stride towards him, his robes flaring out behind him. “No,” he said. “They range from mild sedatives to…worse.” He hooked his arm around Tony’s and began leading him in towards the house. He had decided to play it as if Tony was not angry, since there had been no sign of it yet. That did not mean that he was not still on edge. “I am far more interested in what you have been playing with.” 

Tony matched his pace, not denying any touch. It almost seemed like he was trying to be closer as he held the tablet screen in the middle of them and narrowly missed a leafy branch. “It’s not that complicated,” Tony said. “I just wanted to check my facts first.” 

“On what?” Loki asked, stepping into the house. Tony slipped out of his reach and took a seat in a tall backed armchair by the window. He set the tablet on a small round table. Loki took the matching armchair, setting his ankle on his knee as he crossed his legs. Tony leaned back into his chair, arms on either side of him. It was a rather appealing look, not that Loki wanted to admit to it. 

Tony pressed his lips together for a moment, staring at him. “I think I have a way out of our problem.” 

Stress surged through Loki beneath a rigid exterior. “But I need to run something by you first,” Tony continued. “I’ve been reading secondhand sources at best. You don’t keep a lot of information lying around here about Idunn. I mean not that I would expect you to, but maybe something better than the royal photo album.” Loki stiffened in the chair, his muscles turning to lead. “And google kind of let me down today, but hey, that’s what I get for not inventing my own search engine.” Tony paused. “Well, I did have one, but it’s not like I’ve been managing it since I left and—that’s not the point.” 

“What are you getting at?” Loki asked, his words perfectly measured. 

Tony had started speaking with his hands, leaning forward in the chair, but at Loki’s question he fell back again. His chest broadened as he laid his arms out along the armrests. He tapped his finger against the end. “Idunn’s got the lock down on the apples, right?” 

“Yes,” Loki said, his blood racing with ire. 

“I started thinking about it, and I kept coming back to her. Someone that’s guarding what’s probably what, the most important treasure of Asgard? One of? They're not going to be a pushover, and they’re certainly going to be smart. And they have to be good, to be the only person guarding it.” 

Loki felt his eyes drag closed and forced them back open, drumming his fingers against the chair. “Are you suggesting we dispose of her?” He asked tersely. 

Tony laughed. “No.” He stopped, realizing that Loki was serious. “What? No! No.” Loki nodded his head minutely, disdain apparent in all of his pinched features. It was clearly a foolish ploy, and he was only a fraction relieved that Tony was not actually considering it. Tony scooted forward in his chair. “No, I’m trying to say that maybe there’s another way to fix this.” 

He settled his gaze on Loki’s stern eyes, still managing to be playful like the stubborn bastard he was. “She’s the one guarding the apples, and she’s the one that hands them out, right?” Tony asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Then she has more power than your old man does, in a sense.” Tony propped his feet up on the table as he leaned in. “So her permission is the only permission that really matters, in a way.” Loki stared out the lattice window at the black sky beyond, speckled with white stars. “Loki,” Tony said, drawing upon all the power of the name. “We need her help.” 

Loki drew in his breath through tight lungs. “This is your proposal? We ask her permission? Do you wish for me to toss you into the jaws of the All-Father?” Loki’s expression morphed into something frightening and dangerous. “You would risk exposure for what? A word?” He rose to his feet, hands clenched into fists at his sides. 

“Loki,” Tony said, reflecting none of his anxiety or anger. “This can’t be undone. You can’t outrun Asgard forever.” 

Loki laughed, sharp and cold. “As has been made excessively clear to me.” 

The plush chair backing sank beneath Tony’s head as he looked up at Loki. “So what, we hide forever?” Loki tore his attention away from Tony, setting his jaw as he stared at the far wall. “Do you think I want to get up everyday, pretending like it’s fine?” Tony asked quietly. “Because I don’t.” Loki glanced at him for a split second. “I can’t rest until I solve this, and I think I can.” Tony swallowed hard. “If the issue is getting permission, then we’ll get permission. It just doesn’t have to be Odin’s. Trying—”

“You know nothing of how petty they can be!” Loki erupted. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Tony got up from his chair. “This is the opportunity they have been awaiting, the excuse to rid themselves of the embarrassment of having a Frost Giant in the royal family, and I have brought it upon myself—” Tony’s arms came around his waist, turning Loki to face the him. Tony’s warm hand rested against the side of Loki’s face in blunt contrast to the agonized fury coursing through him. 

“Stop,” Tony said. “Stop.” He slid his hand down to Loki’s neck, inwardly cursing the inches that gifted Loki with towering above him. “I know you’ve spent thousands of years dealing with it. So let me help now, okay?” His face set in that determined scowl Loki so adored. “Let me. I can come at this from a different angle.” Loki tried stepping away but Tony grabbed his shoulders firmly. “Getting Idunn’s permission can only help our case. And if she says no, then we’re only back where we started.” 

Loki stared at him. It was all that he could do. He was genuinely surprised, a talent that Tony seemed capable of achieving in excess. Tony grinned, easing up his grip on Loki’s shoulders. “Besides, you’re forgetting how charming we are,” Tony said. “Between the two of us? I’m sure she’ll say yes.” 

Finally Loki relaxed enough to roll his eyes, grinning faintly. Tony’s hands slid down his arms before letting go.

“Now tell me about Idunn.” 

He sighed, brushing his hair back. “ She rarely leaves the orchard. There are restrictions on her mobility. She is rather like Heimdall in that respect.” Loki trudged back to his chair and sank down. “Her attendance is only requested at grand events, such as the All-Father’s birthday feast.” He smiled wryly. “That was when I made my theft.” Tony sat down across from him. “My attendance was easy to overlook, when I slipped away.” Loki laced his hands together, his voice draining into a recitation. “Her husband, Bragi, has no such restrictions. He is an eloquent speaker and sought after for his wisdom and poetry.” 

“Yeah, god of poetry, I read that,” Tony said. “I’m not sure that’s going to help us with Idunn.” 

Loki frowned, eyes darting to the side as he recalled every bit of information that he knew about her. Though she and her husband were nobles, they had never drawn particular attention to themselves in the court. “She has never caused a trouble which captured the eye of Asgard, and is seldom spoken of. All that is said of her is spoken by her husband, and it is all so floral and effusive that I never gave it consideration.” 

“That’s all, huh?” 

Loki waited before answering in the affirmative. Tony got up. “If you want your goat horns grab them, I know I look good.” 

“Now hardly seems the time for your games. I am not in the mood,” Loki said. 

Tony laughed. “That wasn’t an invitation, though I am totally going to point out that it was your mind that associated your helmet with kinky fun time, not mine.” Loki’s eyes narrowed. “I mean, we’re going to say hi to Idunn, and if you want to rock the princely look you’d better change before we go.” 

Loki’s eyes widened. “Stark, you cannot possibly mean that—”

“Now,” Tony said, the anger Loki had been looking for all day burning across the word. 

“Tony, it is absolutely—”

“No. We’re doing this, and we’re doing it now, before you can back out of it and I self-destruct in the lab.” Tony’s eyes blazed with an expression Loki had never witnessed on the man. A small voice in the back of his mind whispered to him. Tony was right, and if he did not follow this time, something would break for certain. Unsettled by that thought, Loki stood. 

“See? I knew it,” Tony said triumphantly as Loki’s armor circled around him. 

“I will not submit to their judgment,” Loki said coldly. “If your theory is wrong—”

“Then I’ll make it up to you,” Tony said. “When we’re on the run. Which sounds pretty hot, actually.” 

“Tony—”

Tony fixed him with a half-grin, that unsettling look still in his eyes. “I know,” he said. “And we’re gonna be fine.” He grabbed Loki’s hand. “Let’s go.” 

 

☽ ☾

 

It was midday when they appeared in the orchard. Their hands clenched together, a solid link in a chain set on remaining whole. Their eyes roamed the idyllic orchard, frantically seeking Idunn. A soft breeze played through the trees, teasing the lush green branches with generous blooms, completely oblivious to the tense couple. 

Loki took a step forward, rich green grass bending back beneath his feet. Tony tugged at him. When he turned back, Tony nodded his head to the side. Loki followed his direction. 

Seated in the branches, a woman was watching them from three trees down. They began slow, resolute steps towards her together. Loki felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck even as he pulled together his best face, relying on every trick and lie that life had taught him. Tony’s palm was sweaty in his, but he could not bring himself to glance at the man beside him. 

Idunn’s thin pink lips bowed up in a gentle smile. It was her eyes though, that captured Tony’s attention. Vibrant rods of golden yellow, molten and _alive_ , adorned black pupils that spoke of a depth unfathomable. If Tony believed in such a thing as a soul, he was certain that she was looking straight into it. 

Her eyes drifted away from Tony to Loki. A breeze blew through the tree, brushing strands of hair away from her golden brown skin and up into the branches above her. Tony found himself thinking of Rapunzel as he followed the loops of golden hair, hanging in wavy rivers from the tree branches around her. She brushed the skin of a golden apple hanging on the branch beside her, smiling again. “It is not often I have visitors.” 

Tony had been expecting a soft, gentle voice. Instead, it was confident and assured. “I hope our intrusion does not displease you,” Loki said. Tony held back from smirking. He knew when Loki was laying it on thick, and if they got out of this, he was going to tease the hell out of him. 

“Quite the contrary,” Idunn said. Tony’s head snapped up in surprise. Loki’s expression must have changed too, for Idunn did not wait for a reply. “It is a pleasure to meet the second prince and his Midgardian lover.” Her eyes flickered to their clasped hands before settling back on them again. Her gaze was slow, relaxed, almost appreciative. “I know of your theft,” she said. 

Loki’s grip turned painful, and as Tony writhed and shook his hand, he felt the distinct snap of a magical barrier around them. “There is no need for that,” Idunn said. Tony felt the barrier drop like a cotton sheet. Loki sucked in a breath. Idunn had broken it. “I mean you no harm.” She turned her attention on Tony. “I am pleased to meet you, Tony Stark.” 

Tony grinned, feeling the slightest bit giddy, despite the way Loki’s grip still hurt and the logical part of him was screaming to be alert. “Right back at you.” 

Idunn smiled, then turned her clever eyes back onto Loki. “You are fortunate,” she said. 

Loki’s head was spinning, but he squared his shoulders and stood tall as his father had taught him. He chose his words carefully. “I presume by your knowing his name that you intend to spare him,” he suggested, not daring to hope. 

“There is no one to be spared, Loki.” It was said part compassion, part statement. “I know what you fear, and it will not come to pass.” Her focus returned to Tony, almost pridefully. “You are right to presume that it is my permission that must be granted, but I had given it far before you thought to ask.” 

Idunn slid her finger against the golden apple hanging closest to her. “Do you truly think that I would allow a theft to go unnoticed?” She smiled, sun winking off the crown of her head as she took a sideways glance at Loki. “I watch over all of those that partake in this fruit.” The bark of the ancient tree brushed against her skin as she adjusted her grip on the branch. “I have before the time of Odin, and I will after him.” 

She leaned her head against a branch, contentedly watching them from her throne. It was clear to her where Loki’s mind raced. “Yes, Heimdall has the ability to see all, but in a scope that countless and broad, it is easy to lose one. Surely, you know how to take advantage of that.” Loki’s grip on Tony’s hand loosened. “A greater precision is needed here.” She smirked at Tony. “No, I respect your privacies.” Tony closed his mouth. 

The wind brushed by them, warm and steady. “I watch over these through their entirety. From birth, till death.” She combed short fingers through the hair on her scalp. “It is not often that I have the pleasure of watching one choose to take this journey.” 

A lightness hit Tony’s chest, pleasant. “I do not take any pleasure in watching one come to an untimely end,” she said, looking at Loki. “The current All-Father’s hand does not extend here, though I cannot account for his reactions. The decision is mine to make, and mine alone.” She leaned forward, balancing her arms against her knees as she spoke to Loki. “It is my permission that granted you your theft.” 

For a long minute the three were silent. “Why?” Loki asked, voice thick with a jumble of strained emotion. 

Idunn smiled softly. “I too, wished to know what decision would be made. And I too, wished for it.” Suddenly Tony felt as if he was eavesdropping. A faint burn crawled around his neck. “I have known you Loki since you were brought to me as a child. I know your heritage. I know your joy and your suffering. You will not believe me, but I wish for the happiness of each that is born of here.” Loki only listened, body unmoving. “I may not be able to interfere directly with your lives, but this is a gift that I can give. For both of you.” 

Idunn sat up straighter. “You will think that I expect payment. I do not.” Her eyes settled on Tony again. She spoke more casually. “In truth, I nurse a romantic heart. My husband can attest to that. He composes such beautiful poetry, and, well,” she smiled. “Words are a talent not wasted on either of you.” 

The helmet upon his head weighed down on him as he turned to look at Tony. The man’s gaze flickered away from admiring Idunn to meet his. “Is this a good moment for I told you so?” Tony asked. 

Idunn’s laughter rang out. Tony relaxed, swaying his arm against Loki’s stiff, unbelieving one. “Truly,” Idunn said, resting her arms against a branch as she leaned into it. “I welcome your company and wish you no harm. However, your presence is certain to be noticed by the All-Mother if you linger, and I do not think you wish for that today.” 

“No,” Loki agreed. “We thank you,” he said, more of himself now that the script was clear. “And I, for your…” He paused, struggling for the word, “…gift and forgiveness.” 

“Go,” Idunn said gently. 

“Thanks,” Tony said, beaming. The scene faded from them as Loki pulled them back to the house. For a moment, Tony was still in the murky haze of the orchard. His smile slipped from his face when he saw Loki. “Hey,” Tony said sharply. He navigated Loki back towards their bed, making him sit. “Woah, hey, Earth to Loki, well not Earth but you get my point—” He tugged Loki’s helmet off, pressing his warm hands against Loki’s clammy face. It rolled along the bed and clattered to the floor with a loud clang. Tony’s warm palms pressed into Loki’s cold cheeks. “What’s wrong?” 

Loki’s gaze was plastered to Tony’s shirt. He could feel Tony’s anxiety, but it was nothing to fight the haze in him. “I don’t know.” 

Tony leaned down to eye level, face contorted with worry. “Hey there.” He smiled cautiously. “It’s…not what you expected, huh? But it’s gonna be alright.” He couldn’t read the expression Loki’s glassy eyes were giving him. “You’re gonna be alright. We’re fine now.” Loki’s hand reached back, fingers dipping into Tony’s spine. Tony leaned them down into the bed. “It’s alright,” he said, pressing his heart over Loki’s erratically beating one. 

Loki closed his eyes. It was as though each burden was pulling from his core at once, pried out and leaving him dizzy and lightheaded. He had been running from this for months, before Tony took the apple and after. It was almost easier when he had not, because then the focus was the same, convince Tony, convince Tony, but then when it had happened, when he had finally gotten what he wanted, he knew the consequences. He knew how dangerous it was to get what he wanted, how that story went. “Loki?” Tony was staring down at him when he opened his eyes. “Tell me you’re alright.” 

Loki nodded his head. “I am,” he said. His eyes drifted shut again. “It’s just—shock,” he said finally. 

Tony set his head down on his shoulder. “Okay.” 

It was a long time until Loki moved. He pushed at Tony to get up, only to find that Tony had fallen asleep. The man stirred to life with a groan. When he spotted Loki he stood, wincing at the pins and needles in his legs. “Are you—” Tony started, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay?” 

“Fine,” Loki said, scooting back into the bed. He stripped his clothes from himself with a wave of his hand and got under the sheets. Tony dropped his pants to the floor and crawled in after him. He pulled Loki towards himself immediately. 

Loki thought he was asleep again when Tony mumbled, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look unsure of yourself in your helmet.” 

“I assure you, I can still tear you apart synapse by synapse—” Tony’s hand grabbed his hip and pulled it in closer as Tony buried his face between his shoulder blades. “Your lack of fear indicates little intellect.” 

“Considering I just saved your ass,” Tony whispered into his ear, “it doesn’t.” He buried his face back in. Loki flinched, spine curling backwards. 

“Have you perhaps released your anger?” Loki asked carefully. 

“No,” Tony mumbled into his back. He waited a second, then sighed and pushed away a few inches to speak. “I’m still pissed about you not telling me, and putting yourself through that. But that’s between us. I’ll stick with you through whatever hellish Odin dinner we have to put up with when he finds out.” Loki ran his tongue across his teeth, aware that Tony’s hand was still on his hip. 

“Odin may still carry out punishment—”

Tony squeezed his hip and spoke into his ear. “Maybe, but it’s not really his to carry out, is it? You heard her. Idunn will cover us.” 

He rolled onto his back, turning his head to look at Tony. They were quiet for a moment. “You liked Idunn.” 

Tony smirked. “Hell yeah I did,” Tony said. 

Loki grinned, then set his hand possessively over Tony’s chest. “I can’t believe you stole from a radiant tree goddess,” Tony said. 

“Careful,” Loki said. “You’ll make me jealous.” 

“Good,” Tony said. When Loki nipped at his neck he just leaned to offer more, enticing him. “We should visit hot goddesses more often.” Loki pinched him, causing Tony to yelp. Loki rolled away onto his side, grinning. Tony forgave quickly, pulling him back in and burying his face between is shoulder blades once more, letting Loki think he’d won. It was only the next morning that Loki realized that Tony had gotten exactly what he’d wanted too.


	39. Partners In Mischief Part I

“You’ll be late if we don’t leave soon,” Loki said, walking briskly through the kitchen and yanking a drawer open without so much as a glance his way. Tony had crumbs down his shirt from the toast he was lazily chewing as his eyes followed Loki’s hurried and precise movements. 

“They don’t expect me to be on time anyway,” Tony said. 

Loki turned an ornate tea tin over in his hand, reading the label and then vanishing the canister away. He rested a hand on the counter and turned to look over his shoulder. “No, but I do think they expect your presence.” 

Tony took another bite of his toast, just watching him. Loki sighed to himself and then walked into another room. Tony shoved the rest of the toast in his mouth just as Loki reappeared. “Do tell me you gave some consideration to gifts.” 

“My presence is a gift,” Tony announced. 

“Debatable,” Loki said lightly. He took a bottle from the wine rack. 

Tony grinned. He had developed a _thing_ for watching Loki lately. There was something different about Loki, easier. Happier. Tony couldn’t quite pin down what the exact difference was, and he enjoyed playing the game with himself to figure it out. Was it in Loki’s posture? Less cardboard-y, yes, but still that sort of regal that made his toes curl when it was used the right way. Clothes? No. Well. Maybe. He was dressing a little differently, more elaborate, but not unlike himself. Tony stared at his leather trousers. Had he worn those before? It was hard to tell, he had so much leather to begin with, but these had a complex silver buckle that, “—Tony?” He glanced up. Caught. Loki smirked, not surprised, but receptive as the smirk lingered on the corner of his mouth. “I’m going to fetch Brynjar and Andor from their enclosure. When I return to our room I expect you ready.” 

“Okay,” Tony said, brushing the crumbs off his pajama bottoms. Loki strolled out of the room as Tony marveled over how Loki was the one prodding him to be on time to an Avenger’s get together.

* * *

Music blared in one corner of the room as Sam played with the speaker. Bucky was discussing music choices with him, and seemed to be taking Sam’s input seriously. Steve was nearby, lounging on a sofa where he was playing jenga with Bruce. Tony was giving structural advice but not actually participating, and Clint had dropped out after accusing Loki of manipulating the game and then wedging himself between Natasha and Loki on the couch.

As usual, the two were enjoying themselves by teasing Clint. 

“I missed you dearly Agent Romanov, it pains me to think that you were left to manage Barton on your own.” 

Natasha reached around Clint and clinked her wine glass against Loki’s before taking a sip. “Then you should stop by more often.” 

“No,” Clint said, working himself up into a fluster as Natasha and Loki chuckled. “No. No, no.” 

“Oh come on Clint,” Natasha teased, squeezing his side with her free hand. “You’re the one that drank half of his wine anyway.” 

Clint turned a shade redder. “I didn’t know he was the one that brought it,” Clint lied, crossing his arms. He was facing Loki directly on the sofa, but looked everywhere but him. Loki caught eyes with Natasha, matching her deviant expression. 

“I do bring the best gifts,” Loki said, looking Clint over. “Unlike some people,” he added. 

Tony answered without breaking his concentration on the teetering block tower. “I’m already Santa. You all live rent free in here.” He pointed to a spot in the tower for Steve to pick from just before a ping pong ball smacked into it. 

“Sorry,” Rhodey called over. 

“I’ve been working on that for fifteen minutes!” Tony whined. 

“You’ve been working on it?” Pepper asked, tilting her paddle to the side. 

“Supervising is work,” Tony said. Pepper grinned. Instead of picking the blocks up, Tony wandered over to the table where Pepper and Rhodey were playing, grabbing a spare paddle and demanding that they play doubles. When Loki shot him down he got Bruce to join him instead. “Wanna put money down, make it more interesting?” 

“Sure,” Rhodey said. “You’re going to be buying my new bike rack.” 

“We’ll see about that,” Tony said. He was already teasing Rhodey about taking up cycling before the first serve was swung. It quickly turned out that Rhodey was right. So, so right. 

Rhodey was refusing to let Tony actually pay the bet when Loki went upstairs. The party had already run late into the night, and Banner and Barnes had retired already. Loki had enjoyed amusing himself with everyone, particularly his coconspirator Romanov, but had lingered as long as he had simply because he was enjoying watching Tony in the company of his friends. The man lit up around them, and it was hard to miss how they liked Tony. Loki left Tony to spend some time alone with them, feeling a warm note of pride and affection for the man, knowing that Tony would return to him. 

He chose his own floor in the tower to settle into. Brynjar squealed at him in greeting as he arrived in the extravagant living room. Loki scooped him up and set him on the couch, where Andor had chewed a small hole into the fabric and was already sleeping. Loki left them to their own devices and shut the bedroom door behind him. 

The amber colored sheets reminded him of one of their more recent visits to the tower, the mischief he’d gotten into as Tony had caused his own. Loki disrobed and folded his clothes, setting them to the side before crawling into bed. 

He felt utterly content. 

On that note, he drifted off to sleep. 

Tony accidentally smacked the bedroom door with his foot. A crack of light hit the far wall as he pulled the door open. Loki woke up and rolled over just in time to watch Tony shut the door. He fumbled in the dark for the corner of the bed. 

“Shit, sorry,” Tony said as light filled the room. Loki was sitting up in the bed, watching him. He didn’t look unpleasant, or annoyed as Tony expected. Instead he flipped the covers beside him open for Tony to get in. “I didn’t know if you’d be upstairs or down,” Tony said, shucking his jeans off and crawling in beside him. “Andor chewed a tunnel in your couch.” 

“That is a simple fix,” Loki said, indifferent to the couch’s destruction. “How indebted to Rhodes are you now?” He asked with teasing curiosity, watching as Tony tried to get comfortable. 

Tony leaned against the headboard, resting his leg against Loki’s. “He could’ve bought five bike racks by the time we were done, let’s put it that way.” Loki grinned, setting his hand on Tony’s thigh. 

“He is too kind to call on your debts.” 

“Oh, he’ll bring it up again,” Tony said. “He’s keeping bragging rights, which is worth more, honestly.” Tony grinned to himself, staring down at the hands folded in his lap. He spoke a little calmer. “It’s weird being back. I forget how much everyone changes.” Loki kneaded his fingers into Tony’s tensing leg. “I keep thinking I should tell them about, you know, but…” Tony grimaced. “I can’t yet.” 

Loki didn’t say anything. Tony wiggled down into the bed, closing his eyes as his head hit the pillow. He cracked one bright eye open, then grinned up at Loki. “Natasha and I had a brilliant idea.” 

“Oh?” Loki asked, raising an eyebrow. He slumped down into the bed beside Tony, pulling the covers up over their shoulders. “Am I safe assuming that it involves magic?” 

“You are,” Tony said, sliding his hand under his pillow. “We were thinking of having a little fun with Clint and my body from last time.” A slow smile pulled into the corner of Loki’s mouth, and Tony could practically see the gears turning in the god’s mind. “But I was thinking that you and I could have a little fun with it first,” Tony said. 

Loki toyed with Tony’s hair, teasing the peaks of short chestnut hair side to side. “It is a brilliant idea,” he mused. 

“Of course it is,” Tony said. “I came up with it.” Loki opened his mouth as he grinned but didn’t say anything. “And you didn’t show me what you were going to do last time, and you set the bar kind of high,” Tony said. “I think you couldn’t come through on it.”

“Do you challenge me?” Loki asked, lilting between playful and threatening. 

Tony pouted. “You disappointed me.” 

“Well I can’t have that,” Loki said, reaching back and turning out the light. He found Tony’s face with his hands in the dark, cupping Tony’s head between his hands and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Rest then. With expectations such as yours and mine, I want to take my time in making it glorious.” 

“That’s a lot of talk,” Tony said. “Do you really think you’re up to it, god of mischief?” 

Loki’s warm breath drifted over his neck as he sighed serenely, hands receding from Tony’s face and pulling the man towards his chest instead. “Remind me to thank Clint for benefiting me so.” 

Tony shook as he laughed. “We’re going to wind up with arrows in our sides by the end of the week.” 

“I should hope not,” Loki said, closing his eyes as Tony’s head settled against his sternum. 

“I don’t know, Clint’s a decent shot,” Tony teased. 

“His arrows are easy enough to catch,” Loki replied. 

“Bullshit,” Tony said. 

Loki grinned, pulling Tony closer. “I’ll show you tomorrow,” he promised. 

Tony’s hand slid in against his waist and stayed there. “I can’t wait.”


	40. Partners in Mischief Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter contains explicit sex and Tony's body morphing to rock a different reproductive system, feel completely free to skip it if that's not your thing (as usual, the next chapter will be something different)
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> 
>   
> 

Tony stood naked in front of the mirror, Loki looming over his shoulder in the middle of the living room. The massive black mirror had been conjured dead center, right on top of the tapestried rug. The remains of their breakfast were scattered across the coffee table behind them. “You made me shorter,” Tony said. 

“I did no such thing,” Loki said, running his hands down Tony’s soft sides and curling in at his waist. His darkened eyes followed Tony in the mirror. “I merely switched a few things around.” 

“Well if these ovaries are in working order…” Tony said sourly, remembering the last time Loki morphed his body. 

“They’re not,” Loki said swiftly. “I have no desire for a child of ours to come into our present circumstances.” The crispness of his tone dimmed Tony’s enthusiasm a shade, but Loki swept right past it. “I do wish for your hair to be a bit longer yet, however.” 

“Of course you do,” Tony said as green light phased over his hair in the mirror. His voice was higher, and no matter how bitter Tony tried to make it sound, it kept coming out slightly sultry. Though Loki denied it, Tony still blamed him. He felt a bit self-conscious as he noticed the rams’ reflection behind them. Andor was chewing on the fluff retrieved from his most recent tunnel making, but Brynjar’s eyes were trained on Tony from the sofa. He wasn’t sure if the ram was just interested or concerned, but either way he didn’t like it. 

Tony met Loki’s eyes in the mirror. “Make my boobs bigger,” he said. 

“No,” Loki said, ignoring the glare Tony’s reflection was giving him. “Any more and I shall be listening to your complaints of back pain all day.” 

“Trust me, I won’t complain,” Tony said, crossing his arms and emphasizing the breasts they’d already negotiated up to. 

“Your expectations are unrealistic,” Loki said, distracting Tony by massaging his thumbs against Tony’s waist. They had already spent a good deal of the morning arguing over how Tony should look. “Just because it is _magic_ ,” he said, mocking the way Tony said it, “does not mean that it can grant your every wish, nor does it mean that your wishes are wise.” 

Tony sighed dramatically, rolling his fawn eyes up towards the ceiling. “Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun,” he muttered. 

“You will,” Loki said, brushing his nose against Tony’s shoulder as he breathed in the scent of his soft skin. “I know I am.” 

“I know you are,” Tony said lightly. He played with his hair, twirling and twisting the ends. This body felt strange in a good way, and Tony was determined to take every advantage of it. 

Loki’s fingers at his neck recaptured his attention. “It will be quite difficult not to enjoy this immediately,” Loki muttered, fingers exploring the ridges of Tony’s spine. He shuddered reflexively. 

“I don’t have any problems with instant gratification,” Tony said. 

Loki’s smile was pleased, almost predatory. “I am well aware,” he said, grabbing Tony’s waist and turning him around. Tony’s warm flesh sent goosebumps down his arms. As Tony’s hair fell down over his breasts the light caught on it. Loki grazed his thumb against Tony’s collarbone. “Yet this is more fun.” 

Tony twisted his plump limps to the side. They were a vivid shade of crimson, quite like Tony’s suit. He turned back over his shoulder to get another look at this body in the mirror. Loki’s hand slid down to the small of his back. “Tony,” he purred. “Let me dress you.” 

“As if you’d have it any other way,” Tony said, almost laughing. Loki’s fingers stroked the small of his back. “Don’t give me heels though. I don’t want to fall on my face.” 

Loki’s eyes dropped down over Tony’s new features, slowly considering. Tony pressed his thighs together, biting down on his lip as he looked back in the mirror. Loki chuckled, deep and low in his throat, but before Tony could turn back to see him he had let go. 

Soft fabric fell over his skin. Loki turned him back towards the mirror, his hands gripping securely, lustful as Tony looked at his reflection. 

Expensive black leather boots hugged his calves, with straps and a buckle just before the knee. They were something that Loki would wear, but Tony liked that about them. Black lace stockings trailed up his legs. A short black skirt clung to him, just beneath a tailored red leather jacket. Tony immediately pulled the zipper down his chest, revealing a gold collar choker and the silky red top beneath. There was an elegance to it that only Loki could have manufactured, making it high fashion and couture where it would have been amateur on someone else. As Tony stared at the reflection, he couldn’t help the swell of pride he felt for Loki’s abilities. He yanked the jacket zipper down further with perfectly lacquered red nails. “It needs more cleavage.”

Loki let out a theatrical sigh. Tony pressed his breasts together in the mirror as Loki rolled his eyes. “Part of the fun is leaving something up to the imagination.” 

“Yeah, the mirror did a great job of that,” Tony said. He fidgeted with the zipper. “Besides, I don’t need to leave anything up to the imagination anyway. I’m gorgeous.” He turned back around to stare at Loki as he messed with the jacket’s collar. “And the fun is flaunting that. I’m not trying to seduce Clint, just mess with him.” 

Loki grabbed the zipper and yanked it halfway up, leaving it right at the middle. “Perhaps I should change you back,” he threatened, tweaking the clothes back to the way that he liked them. 

“No way,” Tony said. “I want to have fun this time.” 

“Not without me,” Loki uttered low, trailing his hands up Tony’s neck. 

“Oh come on,” Tony said. He smirked. “We both know you’ll be getting off on the idea of everyone wanting me when you know you have me to yourself.” He stabbed his finger into Loki’s chest. “Don’t we.” 

Loki leveled him with a menacing look that had absolutely no effect on a smug Tony. “I only wish to partake in your comrades’ mischief,” Loki said. “For my own amusement.” He combed his fingers through the long mahogany locks. “And then have you to myself so that I may show you how one properly enjoys a body such as this.” 

“Bullshit,” Tony said. He rocked his hips side to side, grinning at Loki. “You like showing me off.” 

“You like showing yourself off,” Loki retorted. 

“True,” Tony said, turning around in the mirror. “Lucky you.” 

Loki bit back a grin. He stepped away. “Let us take our leave,” he said. Tony sashayed past him and into the elevator.

* * *

Clint walked several paces behind the rest of the team, eyes locked on Tony. He knew that Tony was fucking with him, throwing little winks and not so subtle quips in his direction. Blessedly, the attraction Clint felt snuffed itself out every time Tony talked. He glowered at the back of Loki’s head. Trouble maker.

They were in Central Park on a gorgeous, blue sky day but no one mobbed them for autographs or took pictures without asking. It was the only spell of Loki’s that Clint liked. Once Loki had announced the anti-recognition spell would be in place, the entire team had brightened, suddenly more affectionate towards Loki. Bruce had even offered to lend him a pair of sunglasses. 

Tony walked front and center, catching the eye of anyone that cared to look their way. They might not have recognized Tony Stark, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t stare. 

Eventually they settled on a grassy lawn. Steve and Bruce started a game of frisbee that Natasha, Clint, and Tony joined in on as Loki lounged on a picnic blanket. He almost looked normal, Clint thought as he kept watch from the corner of his eye. 

They kept at it until everyone called it quits to sprawl across their picnic blankets and break into the backpack full of food that Bruce brought. Their chatter was quick and lively. “Clint,” Loki said, startling the archer. 

He lowered the sandwich he’d been eating to stare expectantly at Loki. The god smiled, slow and benign, as if Clint couldn’t see the deviance beneath. “I would like to interest you in a bet,” Loki said. Clint took a hard bite from his sandwich and stole a glance at the rest of the team. They weren’t paying attention. “I believe that I can catch one of your arrows by hand.” 

Clint almost choked on his sandwich. “Yeah right,” he coughed. He chugged his water. Wiping it from his mouth he said, “and I’m not taking bets with you. You cheat.” 

Loki shrugged his shoulders. “A demonstration then.” 

“You want me to shoot an arrow at you so that you can catch it,” Clint said skeptically. 

“Yes.” 

They’d caught Tony’s attention now. He twisted around to stare at Loki. “What’re you doing, babe?” Loki’s persuasive air gave way to annoyance. 

“Trying to goad me into shooting in the park,” Clint said. “He thinks that he can catch an arrow.” 

“Sounds like fun,” Tony said. 

Clint took another bite and answered with half of a mouth full. “I’m not shooting in a park full of people.” He swallowed. “Besides, it’s just a trick.” He looked at Loki. “Isn’t it? The moment I shoot that thing it’ll be Clint Barton attacking a civilian. No way.” 

Loki brushed his hand off against his trousers. “I had no such intention. Perhaps we could try in the tower if that is a more agreeable location?” 

“No,” Clint said. “As much as I’d like to take a shot at you, no.” He got up and moved to where Natasha was sitting. 

“Spoilsport,” Loki muttered. Tony laid down into his lap, distracting him. Loki seized the opportunity to run his fingers through Tony’s hair. 

Tony shut his eyes as the sun warmed his skin. “Yeah, well, I can’t say I blame him.” 

“Oh?” Loki asked, displeasure slipping into his voice. Tony cracked an eye open. 

“You _do_ cheat.” 

Loki chuckled. “Of course I do.”

* * *

“You could have accepted their invitation,” Loki said as the elevators opened to Tony’s floor.

“I could have,” Tony said, fighting with the clasp on his necklace, “but we’re going to be here for a while. We can go to dinner with them another time.” The doors shut behind Loki as he swiftly stepped out and grabbed Tony’s hand. 

“Allow me,” he said. Tony dropped his hands away from the necklace. 

Loki slid his thumb over the delicate clasp, thinking. As much mischief as they’d gotten into, and as delightful as taunting Tony’s teammates and frankly the rest of New York had been, they’d both been eager to get back. “Are you going to take it off or what?” Tony said, yanking the zipper down the front of his jacket. 

Loki grabbed his arms, preventing him from freeing the jacket. He leaned down to Tony’s ear. “I dressed you. I shall be the one to undress you,” he whispered. 

Tony laughed. “Yeah? Then who’s going to undress you?” 

Loki’s fingers drifted up Tony’s throat, the weight of his head leaning against Tony’s as his breath fell against Tony’s ear. His free hand slid over Tony’s stomach and pulled him against Loki’s torso, trapping him. “You will,” Loki said. “Be patient, pet.” He nipped Tony’s ear just as Tony began to laugh. 

Tony wriggled in his grip, but there was magic at hand. The cheater. “I’m not your pet,” Tony said, dropping all of his weight backwards. Loki didn’t budge in the slightest. His fingers trailed down Tony’s throat instead, curling around the necklace. 

“No?” Loki asked. 

Tony rubbed back against him, laughing at the sharp stutter that drew out of Loki. “No. And if you get to use pet names, then I get to use them, including all of the ones you’ve banned me from saying—” Loki groaned. 

“You are insufferable,” Loki said. He released the necklace and reached back for the clasp instead. Tony was silent as Loki undid the necklace and tossed it on the floor in front of them. The gold glinted in the center of the carpet, and with Loki’s grasp holding him steady as his eyes fixated on the necklace, he felt a rush of heat jolt through his stomach. “Now,” Loki said, his voice suddenly commanding, “you will allow me to undress you.” 

A high backed armchair materialized in front of them. “Aww, the throne thing again,” Tony complained. The arm holding him in place let go so that Loki could spin him around. 

One eyebrow raised on his arrogant face. His lips pulled back in a thin smile. “Move,” Loki said, pushing Tony backwards. Tony stumbled as he walked backwards into the chair, then fell against its plush seat. Loki’s hands stilled on top of his shoulders. 

Tony’s wide eyes dropped down to stare at Loki’s chest instead. The god wore nothing but a slim white dress shirt that was not altogether opaque and black leather pants with his boots. The zipper on his pants was a little too snug, its golden pull jutting out towards Tony. Loki’s thumb brushed across his cheek as he pressed his lips together, the lipstick he wore slick and sticky. 

Loki brushed his long hair back behind his ear, doting almost, but Tony couldn’t look up. His eyes were stuck on the zipper pointing towards him. 

Tony jumped when he felt Loki’s hands slide beneath his jacket, helping themselves to exposed skin before freeing the jacket and draping it across the chair arm. His eyes darted up to look at Loki, but the god’s eyes were not on him. They were fixated on the fingers playing with the straps on Tony’s shoulders, as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. Loki rid him of the red top but left the sheer red lace bra beneath. 

Tony wasn’t sure what was tying up his tongue suddenly. Maybe it was the way that Loki was touching him, or maybe it was the way that a hot flush was creeping along his skin and pooling between his thighs. Tony shifted uncomfortably in the chair. 

In an instant, Loki was no longer looming over him but sinking to the floor. Tony stared, dumb faced as Loki kneeled in front of him. The god’s bright eyes met his with a self-congratulatory smirk. “What?” Loki asked coyly. He set his hands on Tony’s knees. “Hmmm?” Loki uttered, slowly prying Tony’s legs open. His long fingers slid up beneath the black skirt, his thumbs pressing into Tony’s thighs and trailing inwards. 

Tony squirmed in the chair, bucking his hips towards Loki and wrapping his legs around the god’s back in the same motion. “Do you have to make a show of it,” Tony groaned, pulling Loki towards him with his legs. 

Loki’s thumb circled his clit once, with just enough teasing pressure that Tony swore he could feel his blood rush to the spot. “Yes,” Loki said. 

Tony scrambled to get his skirt off but Loki’s magic snapped around his wrists in the next second. Gold cuffs rotated Tony’s wrists over so that his palms were facing upward as they were secured to the chair arms. “Patience,” Loki chided him. 

Tony took one look at Loki, kneeling on the floor between his legs with hunger lurking beneath every feature and decided that he could play things to his advantage. “Fine,” Tony said, dragging the heels of his boots down Loki’s dress shirt. The buttons in the front strained to keep the shirt together. Tony opened his legs a little wider, feeling wonderfully exposed. Loki’s pupils were shot and it made Tony wet just thinking about it. 

Loki’s hands moved to his boots immediately, unclasping the buckles with precision. He took one boot from Tony at a time, slowly peeling them off to reveal the stockings beneath. Tony grinned. “You look a little strained in those pants,” he said. 

Loki’s hips rocked subconsciously, the tight fabric dragging across strained flesh. He stared up haughtily at Tony, but those brown eyes weren’t on him. Tony’s foot slipped around to rub against Loki’s crotch. Loki groaned before he could bite out an answer. “Ever impatient, Stark.” 

A long, confident smirk slid up Tony’s face to the side. “Take your shirt off.” 

He grabbed Tony’s ankles and directed Tony’s persuasive feet away. “I’m not finished with you.” 

“I said,” Tony repeated, making his voice purr with command, “to take it off.” Loki’s eyes flashed towards him, and Tony could tell by the way Loki’s hand stilled on his ankle that he was considering it. “In fact,” Tony said just as Loki’s hand drifted over to the top button of his shirt, “I want you to take off all of it.” 

Loki popped the first button open, his eyes dropping to the floor. Tony watched the blush the crept across the god’s throat slowly, no matter how stoic his face stayed. The shirt gave way to Loki’s leanly muscular chest as he undid each button singularly, then shrugged it off to fall around him as Tony admired the thin trail of hair that traced down the center of his abs. 

He gasped when Tony’s foot made contact with his leather pants again. “All of it,” Tony said, dragging his foot down slowly. Loki could act in control all he wanted, but Tony thought Loki might want this even more than he did. He certainly wasn’t as patient as he thought. 

“Stark,” Loki said weakly, grabbing his ankle and holding it between both hands. “Patience.” 

He stared up at Tony, who lorded over him as his knees pressed into the floor, Tony’s eyes dancing with anticipation. “All of it,” Tony repeated in the voice he’d been given. In one motion Loki carelessly tore the pants open, freeing his strained erection but leaving them on. “No boxers today, huh?” Tony asked, but the playfulness he meant was lost as the words choked in his throat with lust. Loki grinned. 

Instead of giving Tony an answer, he bound Tony’s ankles to the chair with the same gold cuffs as his wrists. Then he let his long fingers wander up as they pleased, sneaking beneath Tony’s stockings and peeling them down dangerously slow. Tony whimpered as Loki pressed a kiss to the inside of his plump thighs. 

Loki took his time leaning up into Tony’s lap, slowly trailing open mouthed kisses up his thighs towards the scent of him. Loki flipped back Tony’s skirt so that it laid twisted and open around Tony’s hips as his mouth came closer. He glanced up to see Tony fervently watching, his cheeks flushed red above perked breasts. Loki hooked two fingers inside of Tony’s undies and pulled, gliding them slowly down Tony’s thighs and towards him as he leaned away. 

“Please,” Tony uttered as the damp fabric was abandoned in place between his knees. He twisted his hips, his eyes imploring Loki. 

The god’s eyes stayed on him as one finger circled just around his clit, teasing him. Loki stood and eased himself down into Tony’s lap, wrapping his arms around Tony’s shoulders as his heavy cock settled against Tony’s stomach. “Not until you’re ready for me,” Loki said, rocking his hips. Tony’s hands rattled against the wrist cuffs as he struggled against the hot leather rubbing his thighs. 

“I am,” Tony implored. Pre come cooled against his stomach. “Loki, babe, come on. I thought you wanted to show me how to do this right. How am I going to learn anything like this?” The smell of Loki was driving him crazy. 

A thumb brushed over his bottom lip. “Tony,” Loki said. He rested the side of his face against Tony’s, breathing in his ear. “I am,” he said sweetly. He lifted his hips, listening with satisfaction as Tony gasped and moaned in frustration. He paused for a moment. “Pay close attention,” he muttered. “I’m not having a repeat of last time if I shift forms for you again.” 

“I know,” Tony panted. Loki settled back down into Tony’s lap. He ran a finger beneath the red strap on Tony’s chest. Tony fought the cuffs again as Loki’s mouth found the hollow of his neck. “Give me my hands back, babe.” 

Tony’s hands were on his back in an instant. They slid down hard, dug into Loki’s trousers and squeezed his ass. Loki writhed in his grasp a split second, pulling out of his reach and burying into his neck in the same motion. Loki vanished the leather pants away, exposing his pale, muscular thighs for Tony’s pleasure. Tony’s hands were greedy and insistent. The moment he grabbed Loki’s cock, Loki braced his arms against Tony’s shoulders and pushed back. 

Tony watched him breathe heavily, his gaze flickering towards the bed. He languidly stroked the cock in his hand. Tony chuckled. “Am I wet enough for you now?” Tony taunted. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Stark,” he said weakly. 

His arms stayed braced against Tony for a moment as he stared at Tony, painfully aware of the aching weight in his balls. Despite the lusty haze in Tony’s eyes, Tony was alert and ever impatient. His thumb teased the slit of Loki’s cock as his expectant gaze stayed locked on Loki. “I haven’t gotten to come once in this body,” Tony said. He lowered his head, looking up at Loki through heavy eyelashes. “Don’t you want to see me come?”

Loki breathed in through his nose. “I won’t be satisfied with once.” 

Tony laughed. He slapped Loki’s ass. “Great,” Tony said. “Get on with it.” 

Silently, Loki stood up from the chair. The cuffs around Tony’s ankles vanished. He pulled Tony up from the chair, and Tony was fine with it right up to the point that he realized he was going to be carried bridal style to the bed. “What’s wrong with the chair?” Tony demanded as Loki’s dark laughter filled the room. He dropped Tony unceremoniously on the bed. 

Tony twisted in the sheets, tangling himself as Loki stood at the side of the bed, his lustful eyes soaking every inch of Tony in. Tony kicked off the underwear trapped between his knees and ripped of the toes of the stockings that were still hanging on. He sat up, fighting with the bra clasps to get it off. He threw it over the side of the bed hard. Then Tony’s hands rushed to explore his own body. When Loki crawled onto the bed Tony stopped and stared up at him. Loki’s face was just inches from his, arms braced on either side of his head. “Tony,” Loki said, affection slipping into his tone. His lips stilled. Whatever he was about to say stopped. 

For a moment Tony was struck by the attractive elegance that formed Loki’s sharp face, the slicked dark locks that framed his flushed skin as he fought back a smile. Tony reached up and grabbed Loki’s biceps, his heart beating a little too fast. He parted his legs and beckoned Loki towards him with a tug. Loki laughed instead, then bent down and helped himself to a taste of Tony’s mouth. 

His tongue was teasing and deliberate. Tony rushed in with desire, curling his hands into Loki’s hair and moaning. He was frantic where Loki was deliberately slow, but just as he was about to complain, his mouth was suddenly empty. Loki’s hands brushed along his face. He spoke softly. “I want your eyes to stay open,” he said. “On me.” 

Tony cracked a grin. “Better make it good then.” 

Loki easily slid two fingers inside of him, eyes fixated on Tony’s face. “Don’t wait,” Tony said. “Please.” 

Loki’s fingers curled and stroked. “I love it when you beg,” Loki said. 

“Not begging, being polite,” Tony said. Loki smiled, his slicked cock dragging along Tony’s wet slit. 

“Hmm,” Loki said, creating a little friction that made Tony’s whole being scream out with impatience. “Perhaps you should beg me for what you want then.” 

Tony broke eye contact and craned his neck back to look at the pillows crammed in the corner of the bed. He tried not to smile, knowing damn well his trick would work. “Perhaps,” Tony said in an imitation of Loki’s voice, “I should keep my eyes on the bed instead.” 

Loki’s hands kneaded into Tony’s hips. “Your eyes must be on me,” he said, low and sharp. Tony’s head popped up. 

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Then get on with it.” 

When he was certain that Tony would not look away, Loki eased the head of his cock inside. The warm heat of him beckoned Loki as Tony groaned, his face flushing and eyes imploring. Loki thrust in slowly, letting Tony feel each and every inch of the thick cock entering him. Tony’s lips parted, eyes hazing as they stayed on Loki. The god had an intensity that Tony didn’t care to name. The pressure inside Tony was making him writhe. He bucked towards Loki, hands scrambling for flesh to hold onto. 

Loki thrust slowly, biting his lip as Tony’s back arched up off the bed, eager sounds escaping his mouth. The look in Loki’s green eyes and the sensations of his new body were already overwhelming, but the moment Loki’s fingers started playing with his clit Tony tossed all of their games aside. “Please,” Tony said, his voice climbing. “Please, please, please—” He cried, not entirely sure what he was asking for but knowing Loki would give it to him if he heard that word. 

Loki stuttered in a deep breath, committing the sounds Tony was making and the desperate look in his eyes to memory. “Harder,” Tony finally worked out, hands gripping him. Loki obliged. 

Tony didn't close his eyes when he came, and the wet heat of him clenching around Loki stole the rest of his restraint. 

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he collapsed against Tony, breathing in the warm scent of his flesh. Tony’s hands came up around his back and slid absently against his shoulder blades. It was quiet for a couple minutes. 

“More,” Tony said. 

Loki laughed, sitting up. He raised an eyebrow at Tony. “I want to try everything,” Tony said. “Now.” Loki grinned. 

“Then perhaps you should select a toy.” 

“Just one?” Tony asked, rolling to the side of the bed. “Try like ten.” He yanked open the nightstand drawer. “Oh, you know what I’ve always wanted to try?” Tony asked, ignoring the drawer suddenly and sitting up. “Here, let me show you,” he said, getting out of bed to fetch his tablet. 

Loki sighed, unaware of the smile on his lips as Tony crawled back into the bed. “I’ve always been a little jealous that I couldn’t experience this,” Tony said. As Loki’s eyes drifted towards the image on the screen he stroked his fingers along his stomach. 

“I have seen far more interesting toys in my lifetime,” he said. A box materialized beside the chair. “Go pick something out.” 

Tony looked at him for a moment, wearing a lop sided grin. He bent down and kissed the side of Loki’s face. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” He asked gleefully before jumping off the bed. 

Loki folded his arms behind his head. He knew.


	41. Pancakes and Races

Tony was a little bit proud of himself for remembering to wear clothes to breakfast. Loki may not have minded, but he was absent and Tony was eating with everyone else instead. Sam was making pancakes at the stove and flipping them over to the table, usually to be caught mid-flight by someone. 

“You’d better hurry up and eat if you want to get there on time,” Sam gently reminded them. Bruce had just invited them to an expo. 

Natasha shoved in another mouthful. “You shouldn’t have made these so good if you wanted us to rush.” 

“Is that you complimenting my cooking?” 

“No,” Natasha said with a sly smile. Sam grinned as he turned back to the stove. 

Bruce refilled Tony’s coffee cup without a word. “You could invite Loki too,” Bruce said. “I have enough passes.” 

“I will if I see him. I can’t get him to carry around a cell phone,” Tony said with the tiniest hint of irritation. He drew a long sip of his hot coffee. 

Clint took his foot off of Natasha’s chair and sat up straight. “Where is he?” 

“I don’t know,” Tony said casually. He closed his eyes as he took another drink. There were heavy bags under them and he needed the caffeine to make up for the hour of sleep he was running on. He expected Clint to complain, but it was Steve’s disapproving sigh that followed. “Relax,” Tony said, opening one eye to glare at Steve. “It’s not like he’s going to destroy the city just because I’m not with him.” 

“No,” Clint agreed. “But I wouldn’t put turning cars into ice-cream or making it rain bees past him.” Tony made an uncomfortable smile. 

After a moment, Tony reassured himself. “Probably not today,” he said. He moved over so that Sam could sit down with them. “Besides,” Tony said with a lot more confidence, “he’s probably just hanging around in a bakery somewhere.” Sam raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. 

“Are you speaking at this thing, Bruce?” Natasha asked. 

Bruce shook his head. “No, but that’s not because they didn’t ask.” He set his fork down. “ I wasn’t wild about the idea of crowd control.” 

As he spoke, the elevator doors at the far end of the room rolled open. Loki strode in, wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses, like he’d come off an 80’s movie set instead. Tony barely held back the teasing that was on his tongue. “Come here,” Tony said, straining to make it sound as neutral as possible. 

Loki walked around the edge of the table, curious eyes locked on Tony as everyone else either kept talking and ignored him or tried to be as subtle about staring as possible. When Tony motioned for him to lean down, he hesitated for a moment, intrigue peaked as he assessed Tony’s playful eyes. Tony grabbed his chin and kissed him, tongue sliding in with a scientific sweep and lingering in one corner before pulling away with a playful flick against his top lip. “City Bakery,” Tony declared happily. “18th street, cinnamon rum hot chocolate and a pumpkin bagel.” 

Loki rolled his eyes as he stood up, straightening his jacket with one hand and flicking the back of Tony’s head with the other. “It is a pity that you have hardly moved more than a floor since I last saw you, and there is no detective work for me to do.”

Tony made a childish face and sunk back down towards his coffee. Bruce cleared his throat. “We’re going to an expo. It’s sort of like a bunch of presentations and displays about technology. Want to come?” Loki adjusted his sunglasses for a moment. 

“I’m afraid I am previously engaged today.” 

Tony sat up, spilling some coffee onto the table. Loki’s dismissive gaze flickered across the spill before settling on Tony’s blatant interest. He directed his question at Tony only. “Where’s that metal shop you’re always going on about?” 

Tony fretted in his seat, running his arm into the spill absentmindedly. “The parts place? Why do you want to go there?” 

“Don’t make a trial out of this Stark, I just need an answer.” Loki said firmly, halfway between bored and annoyed. 

“East 93rd but don’t talk down to the sales team, they don’t put up with crap,” Tony said, hitting the last word hard, like he was two steps ahead of Loki already. Loki sighed, doting on his jacket’s lapel before answering. 

“Surely I can handle a few auto mechanics. I have one of my own.” 

Tony scoffed loudly at that, but Loki just turned back to walk towards the elevator. He paused right as his hand hovered over the buttons and looked back over his shoulder at Bruce. “Thank you for the invitation,” he said politely, acknowledging the rest of the room that he and Tony had been ignoring. Tony shot him a look that had no impact before he stepped into the elevator and disappeared. 

“You’re comfortable letting him wander into some auto parts place?” Sam asked, coming off far more curious than critical. 

“There’s not much I won't let him do,” Tony said, wiping his coffee splattered arm on his shirt. He pointedly ignored the mistrusting look Clint and Steve were giving him and stood up. “I’m going to go shower, I wouldn’t want to disappoint the paparazzi.”

* * * 

Somehow, after the expo, Tony and Natasha had wound up hanging out together down in the lab. She had been the one to ask about the rams. Once Tony offered to show her them, he was glad that she had. She helped him capture the little beasts from what was left of Loki’s room and bring them downstairs. “They’re bored,” she said sympathetically.

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. He rolled his computer chair a little further away from their enclosure. Natasha was leaning over the side, stroking Andor’s fur. “Like dogs that destroy things when their owners are gone,” Natasha said. 

“I thought you didn’t like animals,” Tony said. 

“I don’t,” Natasha said simply. “But I like these. They’re…interesting.” She said it with far more intrigue than Tony would’ve liked. They were quiet for a moment as Natasha’s hand mechanically smoothed down fluffy white curls. “The other one doesn’t seem as pushy.” 

“That’s because I designed him,” Tony said, dragging himself towards her in the chair with his feet. Seeing him, Brynjar head butted Andor, a spark flying off their helmets. He bleated loudly at the side of the enclosure. 

Natasha laughed, inwardly amused. “I never imagined you as the type to have pets.” 

“Neither did I,” Tony said. 

“Do you think that one is faster than the other?” Natasha asked. Tony looked at her carefully, like that flicker of mischief belonged to someone else. The smile that followed knocked that suspicion right out. 

“You want to race them in my lab?” 

Natasha tried to gauge whether he was enthusiastic or upset. “Just a little.” 

Tony held her stare for a few seconds for show before pretending to relent. “Fine,” Tony said. “But you’re carrying them and we’re taking them back upstairs. One destroyed room is enough.” 

“Deal,” Natasha said, reaching in and grabbing them both. Tony stayed a few feet away from them in the elevator as Natasha grinned like she’d won a carnival prize. “We’re going to need bait or something.” 

“That’s not a problem,” Tony said as the doors opened. He disappeared into the closed bedroom and came back out carrying a box of meat flavored treats. “We’ll just toss these across the room.” 

“Or,” Natasha said, “we could attach them to a remote control car, or—”

“A drone,” Tony said. He vanished into the bedroom again and came out carrying a remote and a flying prototype. “I get bored,” he said to the amused look on Natasha’s face. She took the treat box from him as he fixed a string of them from the bottom of the drone. 

“You’re going to give me a chance to fly that,” Natasha said. 

“Wait your turn,” Tony said, pride slipping in. They stood together as Tony navigated it to fly around the rams a couple of times, grabbing their attention. When they caught on, it was all Tony could do to make it go fast enough. 

“You’re going to lose that thing,” Natasha said. 

“Maybe,” Tony agreed. He let it make a few loops through the room, zipping over their heads and hitting the chandelier crystals a few times, knocking some down. Neither ram outpaced the other. They kept even, parting only to leap over objects or onto furniture before merging together at their sides and running in sync again. Natasha and Tony laughed as they bleated, clearly entertained by the little craft they chased. Tony brought it back to him and freed the treats, dropping them on the floor to be devoured as Natasha strung new ones on. 

The rams ran off again the moment the drone was in the air. Natasha directed it just over the edge of the couch’s remains, barely missing Brynjar as he shot out of one of the tunnels, chomping his sharp teeth. She laughed. “You could make one of these things automated to give them some exercise.” 

“I probably should,” Tony agreed. 

Tony and Natasha played with them until the treats ran out. The moment the rams realized, they disappeared into the couch tunnels, leaving Natasha and Tony alone. Natasha smiled for a brief moment, vivid and alive like Tony had rarely glimpsed. “Well,” she said. “I think I’ll call it a night too.” 

“Leaving before cleaning up, huh?” Tony teased her. 

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to talk.” 

Tony shrugged. Then he grinned, and as they said their goodbyes Tony couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment. The room was suddenly too empty and he wasn’t sure why. Tony wandered over to the ruined sofa and carefully flopped down on a section that would still hold his weight. 

He had laid here with Loki the night he had eaten the apple. Tony rolled onto his side, oddly contented again just as Brynjar popped his head out. “Wha—oh fine,” Tony muttered as Brynjar curled against his leg. A few seconds later he saw a mound lurch across the sofa back like a mole, then Andor appeared and followed suit. “I’m going to pretend this isn’t happening,” Tony muttered. He didn’t remember drifting off to sleep. 

He felt a hand at his shoulder and forgot it, then a hand at his waist and something warm against his chest, all forgotten before the feeling of softness across his cheek and returning to sleep completely. Tony woke up in the morning in Loki’s bed, the pillow plastered against his cheek. The other side was empty. 

Tony sat up. “I suppose I should know better than to leave the three of you alone,” Loki’s voice came from across the room. 

As his head swiveled towards the sound Tony said, “Natasha was there. She did it too.” 

“Romanov,” Loki said. “Right.” 

“Really!” Tony said, fumbling for his pillow and launching it right at Loki’s condescending face. Loki cooly stepped to the side. It smacked the wall and sagged down. 

Loki walked around the side of the bed. “Romanov possesses far too much self-preservation and cunning to openly displease me,” Loki said matter-of-factly, sitting down. Tony stole a glance towards the ajar door, making sure that the room was back in its usual wealth and order. Without skipping a beat, Loki took something from his pocket and grabbed Tony’s hand. 

“We will not be returning directly to our first home after this,” Loki said, closing a golden cuff over Tony’s wrist. “I cannot anticipate your antics as deftly on our next property.” 

Tony tested the weight of the cuff on his wrist, eying the simple design. “Where are we going?” He tapped his fingernail against the side experimentally. 

“A surprise,” Loki said. 

“A dangerous one,” Tony said, looking him dead in the eye. The corner of Loki’s mouth flickered, but he only took the cuffed wrist in his hands. 

“Not explicitly,” Loki said. “Not all properties can have as rich a magical warding as our first.” 

“Oh,” Tony said. Loki knew that sound. It was Tony’s I-know-something sound. “So,” Tony said, seeing that he’d gotten Loki’s attention. “We weren’t just hanging out at the castle the whole time because you were tired and I wanted to be in the lab. You were trying to keep us—”

“Out of calamity, yes,” Loki cut him off. 

“And now that the whole apple thing is fine—”

“Must you think aloud,” Loki complained, dropping Tony’s hand. 

“Yeah,” Tony answered. “So, what’s this thing do?” 

“As I said,” Loki replied, leaning away regally and propping himself back against his arm. “It will provide a measure of insurance should you decide to give in to your careless nature.” 

“Aww,” Tony said loudly, letting the sound grate on Loki’s nerves. “You’re worried about me.” He batted his eyes at Loki as the god glared nastily. “Seriously though,” Tony said. “I thought we were over the whole obsessive protection thing. I’m fine. Immortal, still genius, still—”

“An idiot,” Loki supplied. 

Tony lightly smacked the back of his hand against Loki’s arm. “Hey,” he said. 

“It is not infallible, so do try not to live up to your more creative reputations.” Loki said, running a finger over the cuff. “I can remove it for now.” 

“No way,” Tony said, grabbing his hand back. “I’m running it through the lab the moment I get out of your sight.” Loki rolled his eyes, knowing as much. “Is this why you wanted to go to that store? To make this?” 

“I took one of my ingredients from there, but the primary purpose for my visit there was to get these,” Loki said, summoning several cardboard packets with various sized lightbulbs inside. “A present to myself, so I do not have to hear your griping over their nonexistence.” Tony made grabby hands but Loki vanished them away. 

“I need those,” Tony said. 

“I’m aware.” Loki stood up from the bed. He had taken a few steps towards the main room when Tony spoke. 

“Hey, we’re still staying here for a while,” Tony said. He said it as a statement, but Loki heard the faint waver betraying a question. He turned back around with far more focus than a few seconds prior. 

“Yes,” he said. The man was visibly relieved, though he didn’t outwardly give it away. Tony picked at the cuff and tried not to look at Loki. 

“You’re not bored,” Tony said, not really managing to make it into a question. 

Loki followed Tony’s hand as it traced a pattern on the cuff. “I have spent a considerable length of time in this tower before, how long we stay now makes little difference to me.” He turned to go back towards the door. He didn’t like the uncomfortable expression lurking under Tony’s posture. If Tony wanted to stay longer that was fine, so long as he did not feel weary whenever the man was too far from his reach. In truth, it gave him some comfort to know that Tony was surrounded by capable warriors, but he entrusted no one with the matter entirely. There was no one but him that could anticipate Asgard should something go awry. 

“You’re doing the thing.” 

“The thing,” Loki repeated, mocking him. 

Tony dropped his hands to the bed. “Yeah.” Loki tilted his chin up as he stared Tony down, daring him to try and make a point. “The over-thinking and probably plotting someone’s demise thing,” Tony said. He got out of bed. He flashed the cuff at Loki as he stopped beside him. “For a god of mischief you’ve got a lot of control issues.” 

Loki started up on some grand, indignant speech and trailed Tony out of the bedroom as the man trudged into the main room. Tony flopped himself down on the newly remade couch. “Where are the rams?” Tony asked, interrupting something about him and arrogance. 

“Their enclosure,” Loki said simply, launching back into his speech a moment later. 

Tony chuckled to himself. He rolled over onto his back and opened up his arms. “When you’re done reminding me of how impulsive I am you can come over here,” he announced. Loki’s speech was fizzling out. He looked at Tony’s open arms and the sloppy smile on his face. 

“Actually,” Loki said, taking Tony’s invitation and crawling over him. “I am horribly bored and demand that you find some way to entertain me, or I may just destroy this little city of yours.” Tony’s arms circled around him. Tony closed his eyes. “I am quite serious,” Loki said, dark and threatening. Tony shook as he laughed. 

“Yeah. Okay.” He opened his daring eyes just to smirk at Loki. “I’ll get right on that.” 

Loki’s hand played at Tony’s hair with assessment. “You’d better.”


	42. A Little Advice

Tony had stolen Bruce’s headphones and was lying on the couch in the middle of the common room, arms crossed, eyes tightly closed. The headphones were hulk sized, and had been hooked to something that played meditation tapes, but Tony had switched it over to hard rock easily enough. 

Loki was only a few yards away from him, pointedly keeping an eye on him as he had a glass of wine with Natasha. “All things considered,” Natasha said freely, as they could both hear the music coming from his headphones, “that’s pretty good for a Tony tantrum.” 

Sliding his tongue across his tight upper lip, Loki took a sip from his wine glass. He was glaring openly at Tony, waiting for the moment that the man’s eyes could open and wither under his disapproval. “Yes, well, having all of you on my side did make matters easier.” The glass in his hand tilted to the left, spinning the red wine. 

Tony cracked one eye open. His brow pulled in hard over his eye. It was as if electricity crackled through Loki as he seethed at Tony, holding his body perfectly still. Tony rolled over onto his side with a dismissive pout. He stayed still for a few moments, but that wasn’t enough. Natasha was there too, and he didn’t like the talent she had for getting ideas into Loki’s head. 

“Why don’t you go nurse your boyfriend’s fractured jaw,” Tony said loudly to the side of the couch. He wriggled down into the cushions, incapable of hearing a reply. 

The sound in his ears was replaced abruptly with Loki’s voice in stereo. “The fractured jaw which is healed thanks to my intervention, and which will appear to follow ordinary recovery under Shield’s surveillance, in contrast to the surveillance of you that they would have been enjoying if you had succeeded in your foolish heroism!” Loki snarled, voice crawling out of an angry growl to a full roar. 

Beside Natasha he was perfectly still, lips unmoved. Tony sat up, ripping the headphones off. 

“I could’ve done something!” Tony yelled. 

Loki folded his hands together. “Done something,” he repeated. “Yes, I suppose you could have _done something_. Perhaps lost the safe haven your friends have created for you?” 

Natasha recovered from surprise at the abrupt, seemingly uncaused altercation quickly. 

“Tony,” Natasha snapped. She was far more fed up with him than she’d let on. “You can’t be Iron Man here anymore and surprise, we’ve been coping without you. Don’t compromise us with Shield. You’re a fugitive and they don’t trust us as it is.” She glared at him over her wine glass. With Loki, the duo glowering at him was just enough for Tony’s rational brain to feel a hint of warning. 

He tugged the headphones back on and flopped down on the couch, turning his back towards them. Loki’s voice had been replaced by music again. Tony pushed out a hard breath. They were right, but he wasn’t willing to admit it yet. He’d never had to sit back while the Avengers went on a mission that he didn’t think they could handle without him, and while Clint’s fractured jaw had been the only casualty, Tony was livid. 

He hadn’t used the suit in ages, and Loki forcibly holding him back as Steve yelled at him to stay put and vanished into a jet had been torture. 

Eventually Loki and Natasha must have grown bored of him, because they left with a simple “we’re going out” and Tony took that as his cue to go harass Bruce. He found him upstairs, with earbuds and a meditation track. Without a word, Bruce took the headphones away from Tony’s neck and set them back on. Tony waited on Bruce’s couch until the track finished, staring at his friend.

Bruce knew what was coming when he took the headphones off, and as Tony’s chatter filled the air he got up for a drink.

* * * 

Tony was mostly over it in the morning. He’d slept on his floor, and figured that Loki had to be on his own when he woke up alone. Tony wandered into the room, avoiding the rams slumbering on the freshly destroyed couch, and cracked the bedroom door open.

It was empty. 

Tony’s shoulders dropped down. “Jarvis,” he said. “Where is our resident deity?” 

“In the kitchen,” Jarvis answered. Tony let out a little sigh of relief that was quickly broken. “With Ms. Romanov.” 

“Damn it,” Tony muttered.

* * * 

“What’ve you two kids been up to?” Tony asked as he walked into the kitchen. Loki and Natasha were eating their respective breakfasts, and looking way too chummy about it. “Do I want to know?”

“Simply recovering from a night of mild criminal activity,” Loki said smoothly. 

Natasha swallowed her oatmeal with a sly smile. “We drag raced a couple of tools and had a little bar crawl afterward. It’s not the most illegal thing any of us have done by a long stretch.” 

Tony shook his head. “I don’t want to know about it,” he said. He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat in-between them, sticking his feet on the chair across from him. Loki raised an eyebrow at the obvious jealous intrusion, but Natasha just took it as another chance to play with Tony. 

“I heard that Bruce and you had a wild night of your own,” she said. 

Tony lifted his chin up. “We did,” he said. “Too bad you weren’t invited.” Natasha made an incredulous sound in the back of her throat and went back to eating her oatmeal. It was silent at the table, aside from Tony loudly slurping his coffee just to grate on Loki’s nerves. Unknown to him, the god had charmed it out of his hearing months ago. 

Natasha was the first to finish. They heard water running behind them and metal clanking before she left. Tony sat sullenly in the quiet, taking his feet off of the other chair. 

“What’re you doing today, aside from leather worshipping?”

Loki sucked a breath in through his nose but answered calmly. “I suppose that I will begin by reconstructing whatever mishaps our darling pets have gotten into, and then carefully considering how much time is left before my dear brother arrives,” he said distastefully. 

“Here?” Tony asked. “I thought he was wrapped up on Asgard.” 

Loki nodded his head. “The dear Captain tells me he is due to appear soon, as Ms. Lewis is celebrating a birthday and made him promise.” 

“And he’s coming here? Why not there?” 

“In all likelihood he will,” Loki said. “But he will come here to visit as well.” He flipped his hand over on the table, smacking his fingers against the surface. “I would prefer not to run the risk.” 

“Okay, aside from the usual brotherly love thing, shouldn’t it be fine?” Tony asked. “I mean, we’re good. Asgard’s fine.” Loki huffed a loud, skeptical huff. “They can’t change me, Idunn said so.” 

“All the same, I have no desire to meet with him,” Loki said. 

“But—” Tony started, nodding his head to the side. 

“Do you wish to?” Loki asked swiftly, changing tactics. Tony opened his mouth, then closed it slowly. “Tony,” Loki said, breaking into something compelling, almost pleading. “Could we not simply leave before he comes? I have no desire to share his company, with our secret or not, and we have places to be. There is so much I have yet to show you.” 

Tony’s gaze dropped down to the golden cuff on his wrist. Loki had offered to take it off again, but Tony had insisted. He liked the reminder of Loki’s unspoken affection, especially when things weren’t going well. “Just a little longer,” Tony said. “We…we can go before Darcy’s birthday.” He twisted his hand over the cuff. “Rhodey got engaged.” 

“You told me yesterday,” Loki said, assuming that Tony had forgotten. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He got up from the table with a heavy sigh, scratching at the back of his neck. He felt awfully heavy. Loki’s astute eyes followed him as he trudged over to the refrigerator and looked inside. Nothing appealed. He closed the door and started walking towards the elevator. 

“Help me,” Loki said. Tony turned back over his shoulder. “I wish to refresh the rams’ enchantment and I could use an extra set of hands.” Tony frowned, breathing uncomfortably. Loki rose from his chair. “It is not as if you have any urgent matter to attend to.” He walked past Tony and into the elevator. The man stared at him for a moment, considering something, before joining.

* * * 

Tony was kneeling on the floor, brushing a comb through Brynjar’s fur when Natasha came in. Loki was busy washing the blood out of Andor’s fur and getting a few bites in the process. “What happened?” Natasha asked carefully.

Tony looked up at her from the floor. “Oh,” he said, noticing the way she was staring at the blood on Andor. “That’s not from them. They just…get excited. It’s from the raw meat.” Brynjar was freshly bathed and content to accept the comb’s teeth through his fluff. His eyes flickered lazily towards Natasha when she knelt down. He deemed her not to be a threat. 

“I don’t remember you feeding them raw meat,” Natasha said. 

“It’s for their re-enchantment,” Tony said. “Not all the time.” He grabbed a towel and fluffed it through a patch of Brynjar’s fur that was still wet. “You didn’t come to get your drag racing buddy, did you?” 

Natasha grinned, shaking her head. Her eyes drifted over towards Loki. He had noticed her, but his attention was on Tony. “No,” she said. “I’m just bored.” 

Tony grinned. “Doubt it,” he said. Brynjar bleated as if to agree. 

Natasha shook her head, looking away as she smiled. Loki padded over to them. His hand appeared beside Tony’s head, Andor within it. “Now him,” Loki said. 

Tony took Andor as Brynjar cried in protest. “You’re already done,” Tony told him, taking him out of his lap. He stared at Tony for a moment before head butting him and running off to the sofa that Loki was sitting down on. “They’re needy bastards,” Tony said, fluffing Andor with a towel. 

Natasha leaned in close to him, whispering low. “He looks at you differently when you take care of them, you know.” Tony’s eyes flickered involuntarily to Loki before setting back on Natasha. 

Tony leaned back in towards her conspiratorially. “Why are you telling me this, Romanov?” He asked with just the slightest hint of flirtation in his voice. 

She raised her eyebrows at him, fighting a smile. “If I were you,” she said. “I’d use it to my advantage.” 

Tony laughed. He leaned back into towards her, whispering. “Are you offering me relationship advice? Right now?” 

“Just stating the obvious,” Natasha said, patting Andor’s head. Tony returned to grooming Andor, a far more thoughtful expression on his face. Another glance at Loki told him that the god was busy murmuring something to Brynjar on the couch. Tony glanced at him and again and then back at Natasha. She gave him an you’d-have-to-be-an-idiot-not-to-believe-me look that made Tony shake his head. 

“So what’s the real reason you’re here?” Tony tried again. 

Natasha rocked off of her heels and sat down flat on the floor. “Everyone’s kinda feeling bad that you didn’t get to come yesterday,” she said. “Not that it means that you were right trying to come,” she added quickly. “But we were thinking that maybe you’d both like to go out and see a movie,” she said. “Or hangout. Whatever you’d like, as long as it doesn’t involve you and blowing your cover.” Natasha paused. “Or pranking Steve again.” 

“What’s the fun in that,” Tony complained. He dropped the smile to give Natasha an appreciative look. Just for a split second. He didn’t want the others to think he adored them or anything, it wasn’t like he’d built an entire tower around them or something. “Order Chinese food and watch the worst movie we can find?” 

Natasha nodded her head. “Sounds good,” she said. She got up from the floor. “You coming?” She called over to Loki. 

Loki had been watching Tony from where he laid on the couch with Brynjar in his hands, but hadn’t been listening, apparently. “Chinese food and a movie,” Tony said. “A terrible movie.” Loki sat up. 

“When you finish your task, I suppose.” He feigned apathy as his focus went back onto Brynjar. 

“I’m telling you,” Natasha whispered. Natasha nodded her head towards Loki while staring at Tony. 

Tony twisted his lips to the side. Andor bleated at her. “See you in an hour?” 

“Alright,” Natasha agreed. 

She shook her head as the doors to the elevator closed in front of her. Those two were something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me your favorite chapter if you have one! (it'll influence the next)  
> next we'll have a new setting too :)


	43. Plans & Closets

The moment they touched down on the realm, Tony knew that he was in love. 

He was greeted with the panoramic window view of a sprawling city from their new home, rife with technology that Tony had never seen. Loki took the rams with him and meandered down a hallway that would lead to their bedroom as Tony took a step towards the window. 

“This is incredible,” Tony said, hands pressing to something resembling glass. He could feel air pass through the translucent material, even as its sturdy surface braced under his weight.

Loki padded back in, unfazed by the view. He was well familiar with this place. A vehicle zipped by the window and Tony let out a loud whoop as it passed. “God!” Tony exclaimed. “Why didn't we come here sooner?” 

Loki sank down onto a sleek couch. “The conditions are tolerable for Aesir, or immortal Midgardians such as yourself, but as a mortal it would’ve been quite difficult for you to survive long here,” Loki said casually. Tony subconsciously wrapped his hand around the arm cuff. “Shall we go explore?” 

“Hell yes,” Tony said. “I wish I could take the suit out there,” he said. 

Loki raised an eyebrow, curiosity sparking. “Who said you can’t?” 

Tony shrugged his shoulders. “Well I could,” Tony started. “But I’d probably be embarrassing myself.” Tony reached out and pressed his hand to the not-glass, fascinated. “It’s way too outdated for this place.” He missed the gentle approval that flickered over Loki’s face. 

“Let’s depart,” Loki said, standing up. “Daylight is not long here.” 

Tony practically ran to his side.

* * * 

“Street vendors,” Tony said. “I wasn’t expecting that. This seems like the sort of place where what you want should just download into your brain.”

“How can you know what you want if you don’t see it?” Loki asked mockingly, looping his arm around Tony’s and pulling him away from a passerby that he judged to be too close. Tony reached out to touch an orb on a vendor’s table. 

The energy from his cuff pulsed, knocking the orb onto the ground and emitting a translucent shield around Tony. “Five minutes,” Loki said, unfazed by his magic buzzing around them as he held to Tony’s arm. “And you’ve already activated the damn thing.” 

Tony felt a pointed heat in his cheeks that he purposefully ignored as the vendor set the orb back on the table using prongs with a loud huff. “Start walking,” Loki muttered out of the corner of his mouth. A flurry of leaves burst from a nearby plant, distracting the vendor and allowing for their escape. Loki grinned.

Tony was towed along in Loki’s lead as his pointed shoes took long strides in the other direction. “So, I’m not allowed to touch anything here?” Tony asked belligerently. 

Loki’s grasp on his arm did not falter as he lead the man around a street corner. “You could touch something, I suppose,” Loki began. “But perhaps I should be chastising myself for blocking your desire to touch an incinerator?” Loki shook his head, face contorting with a sweeping expression. “To think I stood in the way of your wish to become a fleshy pancake on the unworthy pavement.” 

“Their fault for leaving one of those just lying around,” Tony said. 

“Do not go back and purchase one,” Loki told him. “I know you’re considering it.” 

Tony glared at a building in the distance as a smug smile danced on Loki’s face. Tony got distracted by a vehicle materializing from thin air and allowed a crowd of passengers out onto their stop. Tony jostled Loki’s arm. “Explain that,” Tony said. 

Loki said something long and complicated that Tony made him rephrase two times before he was satisfied. “You could just leave all the jargon out,” Tony said. “I already know that you’re smart.” 

“The educational system here is exceptional,” Loki said, filing away Tony’s compliment to a corner of his mind to relish later without acknowledging it. “I studied here for a time.” 

“I’m jealous,” Tony said. 

“Well,” Loki said. “Perhaps you could study here, when we are ready for a longterm stay.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked, admiring the efficiency of a streetlamp as it slowly came to life with the setting sun. He turned back to look at Loki when he didn’t get an immediate response. He teased Loki. “Not ready to settle down yet, huh?” 

“We have hardly scratched the surface of what lies out there,” Loki said. “No, I haven’t any intention of staying here immediately.” He paused for a heartbeat, the words churning slowly in his mouth. “But it would be useful if you could tutor from this planet’s expertise.” 

“Tutor who?” Tony asked, attention snagging on a craft floating above them. “Don’t tell me you’ve developed an interest in my _mechanical abominations_.” 

Loki didn’t look at him when he answered. “We may wish to travel yet with the children, and they will need a tutor. If they share your interest.” 

Tony cleared his throat. “If there are kids,” Tony said sternly. He eased off the knot forming in his stomach and forced on a smile instead. “You and I aren’t exactly the fatherly type,” Tony said. He stepped to the side of a creature passing him in the street at the same time that Loki pulled him in tighter. They eased apart when the path was clear again. “I’m impulsive and unstable, as you’ve pointed out on more than one occasion,” Tony said lightly, making it a little sing song in his delivery. “And between us there are too many deaths to count, weapons manufacturing, an attempt at world conquering, pissing off one of if not the most powerful realm…” 

He made it sound like listing off ice-cream toppings, but Loki knew him too well. He hummed, linking his arm back around Tony’s and turning them to walk back towards their new home by a different route. “That is not all there is between us,” Loki said. They walked in silence for a while, passing back through the vending stalls. “You do not give yourself enough credit,” he told Tony conversationally. The words lingered between them. He glared at a creature they passed that looked too interested. “I do believe I brought some of your Midgardian cuisine with us,” Loki said, changing tone completely. He wouldn’t press the issue now and spoil the good mood that had descended on them since arriving. 

“Would I be right guessing that there are some restaurants in Manhattan that will be reporting thefts today?” Tony asked. 

Loki smirked but declined to answer. 

“If the food here is anything like the tech,” Tony said, “I might be feeling adventurous.” He stopped walking. “Wanna eat somewhere around here?” 

“But then I would not have you to myself,” Loki said, leaning in towards Tony’s ear. 

“Oh,” Tony said. “It’s one of those nights.” He couldn’t fight off the smile on his face. 

He matched Loki’s pace towards the new home. 

Tony threw open the front door, and a moment later Loki pinned him to it. He didn’t realize that anything was wrong until he felt Loki’s muscles go tight, his gaze transfixed on something in the distance. “Someone is here,” Loki whispered, barely audible. 

He released Tony from the door. “Who?” Tony whispered back, hands bunching into fists. He hurried to enter after Loki. 

“Stay here,” Loki hissed, pushing Tony back against the wall. 

“Like hell,” Tony hissed back, fighting Loki’s stubborn grip until the god relented with an irritated sneer. They tiptoed down the hallway, each trying to see out first while holding the other back. “Can’t you tell who it is?” Tony whispered as they cleared another hall. 

Loki shook his head. The inability to tell by magic vexed him, and as they approached the living room he spared a thought for the welfare of their rams. They were mendable, but he would prefer for it not to come to that. Tony’s loud breathing followed him as they crept closer. 

When they came into clear sight of the living room, they spotted her at the same time. Standing tall, draped in a regal green dress with curls piled upon her head, she stood with her back to them. Loki shoved Tony back immediately, hand fumbling gracelessly for the nearest door. “My mother,” Loki said through gritted teeth before unceremoniously shoving Tony inside of what turned out to be a very narrow closet. 

Tony’s back hit the wall and he sank down to the floor, darkness enveloping him as Loki’s voice rose a few feet away. Tony felt something move against his toe. He froze. 

“Can’t I visit my dear son?” Frigga’s voice countered something uttered by Loki. “Especially when he is so reluctant to visit me.” It was quiet for a moment as Frigga pulled him into a hug. “Now you have told me nothing of yourself in months, I only hear through Thor.” 

“And Heimdall,” Loki corrected her. 

“Heimdall does not spend his days spying on you.” 

Tony didn’t hear the next bit. The movement along his toes morphed into something soft and warm, almost hot. Tony pressed his back harder against the wall, holding his breath and drawing his knees inward. The heat pressed against his leg, blocked only by a thin layer of denim. Tony stopped himself from screeching as something else warm and soft crawled into his lap. 

Tony’s heart stopped pounding as he recognized the shape of a ram. He blindly felt forward for the one at his leg and found a hole in the drywall instead. “You ate a hole in the fucking wall?!” Tony whispered loudly at them. The one on his stomach shook as it began to purr. Tony felt for its helmet and discovered that it was Andor in his lap, greedy for attention. 

“Must we?” Loki asked tiredly. 

“I will not be the only one to sit,” Frigga said. There was a pause, in which Tony could only imagine that Loki was sitting down with dramatic reluctance. “Now. Tell me how you have been.” 

“Well,” came the answer. More silence. “You have offered me nothing of how you fare.” 

“All is well with your father and I, you know that. You would be alerted immediately if such were not the case,” Frigga answered swiftly. “Where is your dear companion?” 

Brynjar rubbed his head against Tony’s hand, urging him to pet his fur, as Tony strained to hear an answer through the door. Brynjar made the first note of a cry, and Tony rushed to silence him with a stroke of his hand. He didn’t hear Loki’s answer between that and the steady purring sound both rams were making. 

“Loki,” Frigga’s voice came, reassuring and persuasive at the same time. “We wish to see him again. Why won’t you bring him? Are you embarrassed by us?” 

“You and I both know Odin’s opinion of the matter.”

“Loki, his social standing is not of importance. Your father would rather see you on Asgard with him than leaving us like this. We want you home.” 

“It is not my home any longer,” Loki answered. He didn’t sound snide, or angry, as Tony expected. “And I do not wish for him to be subjected to Odin’s disapproval, and I do not find it flattering that you will tolerate him if it means having me.” 

“Loki,” Frigga admonished him. Brynjar rubbed against Tony’s chest as he tensed, apprehension riding through him. The ram gently head butted him. “I miss you.” Tony curled his fingers into Brynjar’s fur as Andor mirrored his companion’s actions, pawing for attention until Tony was petting him too. “Your father and I have come to terms with the recent fascination that you and your brother have taken with mortals, and I do not think that it is of any detriment to you. You seem to benefit from his company, and it is not as if there is any urgency regarding your marital status.” Tony swallowed hard. “Yet you may find later that a member of the aristocracy suits you, if only you will give it a chance.” 

“And what if I do not?” Loki asked coldly. “What if I were to renounce all of the aristocracy’s appeals? Would you be disappointed in me then, for choosing mortals instead, mother?” 

“Their lives are short,” Frigga said gently. “I do not wish you the heartbreak. Jane and Tony are lovely and I adore them, but they’re not like us, Loki. They’re mortal. You have a duty to your regal standing—”

Tony braced Brynjar and Andor against his chest, expecting them to cry out when Loki laughed erratically or began to yell. He did neither. “I am expected to choose a partner that pleases your aspirations and father’s ambitions and yet I will never hold the throne,” Loki said. 

“You are a prince,” Frigga began. 

“Am I?” Loki asked. “Is that what I am?” Tony heard Loki’s footsteps across the living room, and just as he wondered if Loki was coming to the door, the god’s footsteps abruptly went in the other direction. 

“Yes, Loki, of course you are. And a prince is not without importance. How can you expect your brother to fare without your guidance? You are needed on Asgard.” 

“Let us say, then, mother, that I have no desire to give a mortal up. Suppose I wish for him to join me as the Aesir. What will you do then?” 

Frigga took pity upon Loki’s challenge. “Do not disappoint yourself seeking approval,” she said softly. Then she tried to appeal to Loki’s rational side. “Would that be best for him? Surely he would not wish to leave his friends. Loki, you cannot be so serious.” Without him noticing, Andor had made it up Tony’s chest and was now pressed to his neck as Tony cupped his ear to the door. “Do you pursue him and your travels to spite your father and I?” Frigga asked with an air of certainty. 

“No,” Loki said.

“Return home,” Frigga said. “Let us put your recent difficulties behind us. There is no need for you to prove anything to us with this rebellious behavior, Loki. If you wish to bring him, then you may. Your home is with us, not galavanting across the realms, keeping me sick with worry.” 

“I should like to hear how father phrases that sentiment,” Loki said, spite mixing with amusement. 

“Would you rather I send him to appeal to you?” 

  “As if he would make the effort.” 

They seemed to be at an impasse. Tony realized that Andor was on his shoulder and jumped, muffling a shriek and quickly placing the ram back down on the floor. Andor growled and Tony shushed him, petting him appeasingly. “If I cannot persuade you to seek reason, at least allow me to enjoy your company,” Frigga was saying. As she began to give a very detailed account of some new policy in the palace kitchens, Tony leaned off the door and sank back against the wall. 

He squeezed his eyes shut. 

It was a conversation similar to one he’d had with Howard, and Maria had only echoed it when he looked to her for support. This was just the first time that Tony was on the other side. 

Tony wasn’t offended, but a charge of anger did pulse through him as he thought of Loki keeping it from him. 

After a while, Tony bored of listening to them. Brynjar had fallen asleep in his lap, and Andor was asleep on the floor, curled between Tony’s legs. At first Tony had felt ridiculous hiding in the closet. He had considered bursting out, but he didn’t have any desire to see Frigga now. They’d met before, once, and as welcoming as she’d been, Tony knew better than to accept things at face value. He wished that she would leave already. He just wanted to be with Loki. 

His back became stiff and painful. Every time that he tried to get more comfortable, he had to be careful not to disturb the slumbering rams. Tony tried to distract himself by puzzling over the strange material that acted like glass, or the dozens of other new things he'd seen. It failed to keep him from growing irritable and upset. 

It was also difficult to keep time in the dark closet. Frigga was bringing up some member of the court for the fifth time, and Tony was certain that her hints were just as transparent to Loki as they were to him. According to Frigga, this person was, “incredibly clever, a challenge even for your wit.” Tony wanted to vomit. 

He might have drifted off a couple of times before Loki’s voice grabbed his attention. “I will consider it.” 

“Do consider it,” Frigga said. “It would please me greatly if you would attend his birthday feast, and your brother misses you.” 

Loki muttered something, and Tony held his breath as their footsteps passed the closet door. A couple of minutes passed. Tony heard the front door close, and then one set of swift footsteps hurried to the closet door. 

Tony looked up from the floor at him, eyes blinking rapidly in the onslaught of light. 

Loki knelt down to the floor and grabbed him, pulling Tony upright and into his arms without any comment. Loki’s muscles were stiff and rigid with tension, and he drew a heavy breath near Tony’s neck before releasing him as if his only intention had been to get Tony off the floor. He avoided Tony’s eyes and noticed the sleeping rams instead. “Oh?” Loki asked. 

Tony turned and looked back over his shoulder. “Yeah,” he said. “They ate a hole in the wall, trust me, you don’t want to look.” 

His voice lacked its usual exuberance. Loki avoided looking at him still. “Well, that’s one way to kill the mood,” Tony said. He walked around Loki to start for the couch in the living room. Loki’s hand caught his shoulder. 

“I—I did not think to silence your hearing until after,” Loki said. “Her presence startled me and I did not react as diligently as I would have wished.” 

“Oh,” Tony said. “That’s supposed to make me feel…good?”

“You should not have heard what she had to say of you,” Loki said defensively, too tightly coiled towards his own response to be that reassuring towards Tony. He followed the man as he walked into the living room. “They do not believe it to be in my best interests to court a mortal.” 

“Loki,” Tony said. “I’ve heard that kind of shit before. Pops doesn’t want the family fortune to be squandered on some title-less gold digger. I get it.” He flopped down on the couch. Loki lingered behind him, kneading his hands together. 

After a moment, Loki walked around to the front of the couch and sat beside Tony’s chest. He kept his gaze fixed out on the window. When Tony’s hand brushed against his thigh, he tensed. “What bugs me,” Tony said, now that he had Loki’s attention, “is that you didn’t tell me.” 

Loki glanced back at him. “Why?” 

“Because,” Tony said, mahogany eyes disappearing under a heavy blink. “It’s the same shit you pulled before. I want to know if Asgard’s giving you crap.” 

“There is nothing you can do about it,” Loki said morosely, staring despondently at the star flecked sky outside. 

“That’s not the point, dumbass.” 

Loki’s head whipped back to give him a nasty look of appraisal, but it crumpled slightly under Tony’s angry stare. He was locked there for a few moments as Tony timed it to be just withering enough. “You think I want you to bottle that crap up all the time?” Tony asked. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t. I want you to fucking tell me.” 

Loki pushed his tongue against his cheek, head turning away from Tony. 

Tony’s hand set back over his thigh. “Anything else I should know about?” Loki shook his head. 

“Is it not bad enough that you had to hear just now?” Loki asked. 

Tony’s thumb traced a line down his thigh before losing interest around his knee and falling to the couch. “The first time I brought a girl home, Howard told me she was only interested in me for my name. I was gonna take her to an amusement park, I couldn’t even drive yet and here I was all jazzed up because this girl liked me, and that’s what he says.” 

Loki’s body leaned against Tony’s leg as he released the weight he’d been tensing. “He used to have the cleaning staff make sure there was a full box of condoms stocked in my bathroom so that I wouldn’t knock up some chick and get stuck paying child support.” Tony sighed. “Fucking stupid. He was a real ass in his later years.” Loki turned back to look at him as Tony continued. “Sometimes I wondered if I started sleeping around because it was what he thought I’d do.” 

Loki twisted to put one leg on the couch, his thigh tucked against Tony’s side. After a moment Tony grinned at him. “I always wanted to impress him. Still do, sometimes.” He rested his hand on Loki’s thigh. “Doesn’t matter now though.” 

“His loss,” Loki said in a near whisper. 

Tony frowned. “And mine,” he said, mentally tracing the sleek curve of the couch fabric. Loki dropped his shoulders. “But,” Tony said, forcing his voice to be brighter, “I get why your parents wouldn't exactly roll out the red carpet for me. Usually I’m not the one on the receiving end of it, but…” Tony shrugged. 

Loki’s face fell at seeing Tony’s expression. “I don’t have any intention of—”

“I know,” Tony cut him off. He reached for Loki’s hand, the cuff glinting in the light. “I know you care Loki, that’s not up for debate. I’m not worried about that.” Loki’s fingertips drummed against the gilded metal on Tony’s arm. 

“So,” Tony said. “That’s why I’m pissed. We could’ve had this conversation months ago, my emo reindeer, and that wouldn’t have sucked as much for you, you know?” Tony sat up, using his shoulders to pull himself up higher on the couch and leaving a little of his side by where Loki’s leg was limply positioned. “When you keep stuff that’s bothering you from me, I don’t exactly feel great about it.” 

Loki didn’t seem to know what to say, and was hiding it by combing a hand back through his long black hair. His eyelids lowered so that his green irises were barely visible while he watched his fingernail trace a line on the couch. “Damn their wishes,” he said quietly. “You and I will do as we desire.” His eyes darted back and forth as he turned something over, his breath constricting. “You…you don’t think that you could be a father?” 

Tony clasped his hands together and stared at Loki. “I told you today,” he said. “Weapons manufacturer. Unhealthy relationship with a bottle of Jack Daniels that would be happy to rear its head again. Long stints in a lab, and that’s not even getting to the list of personality defects I’ve been told I have.” 

Loki’s lucid eyes set on him, rapt and seeking. His hand rested on Tony’s stomach as he leaned in slightly. “Don’t you wish to show that you could do it better?” 

“That’s a shitty reason to have a kid, Lokes.” 

Loki bit on his bottom lip and glanced away. Tony’s hand set on his shoulder. “Having kids is not going to prove anything to Odin about how you could’ve done it better.” 

“I didn’t say it would,” Loki snapped. “This is not about him,” Loki hissed, crossing his arms tightly. Tony took in a deep breath. 

“I think you’d be a good dad,” Tony said. Loki’s rapid upset stopped abruptly. “But I don’t know, Loki. Now’s not the time.” Loki swallowed. His shoulders hunched forward. “That’s a huge decision and I—why _do_ you want them?” Tony asked, suddenly curious. He’d thought that Loki would let it go when he took the apple, but that didn't appear to be the case.

Loki swung his leg off the couch and stared out at the city lights. He wet his bottom lip with his tongue. Just as Tony thought he was about to speak, Loki stood up and walked to the window. 

“Loki,” Tony called from the couch. “Unless you’re about to start some villainous monologue, you’d better get your ass back over here.” Tony rolled onto his side. “I don’t want to watch you sulk all week.” 

Loki’s head tilted to the side. “Hey, I’m not gonna be the only one sharing during story time,” Tony said. “Loki.” The god spun back on his heel and walked purposefully towards the couch. He grabbed Tony’s hand. 

Loki pulled his other hand out from behind his back and set a wooden horse on Tony’s palm. Tony’s eyebrows rose with recognition. “This is—you never did name him.” 

“Sleipnir,” Loki said. It was clear in the begrudging, sharp way that he said the name that this was not a conversation he wanted to be having. Tony sat up on the couch, turning the horse over in his hands. Tony studied the grooves in it for a few moments before glancing up at Loki. “I want that Tony,” he said. 

A heavy breath pushed out of his lungs. Loki felt his blood pressure rise as he stood there, inwardly appalled to be admitting it to Tony. 

Tony felt like he’d been hit by bricks in the stomach. The dream of a younger Loki flooded his mind, and with it the words Loki was saying clicked together. “Oh,” Tony said in a near whisper. “I—I don’t know that I can always be—” Tony took in a breath. “That Tony.” 

Loki reached out and snatched the toy from Tony’s hands, vanishing it away. “It is not a decision made easily, I suppose,” Loki said dismissively, taking a tight step away. 

“Wait,” Tony said. He got up from the couch, staring up at the taller god. “You’re right, it’s not. Let’s…let’s just leave it on the table for now, okay?” 

A slow, thin smile slid across Loki’s lips. “Agreed,” he said. 

Tony let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good,” Tony said. He rolled his shoulders and set his hands on his hips. “Now, uh, before we got started on all of that…god, my back still hurts from that damn closet.” He raised a hopeful eyebrow towards Loki. “I think I need you to work out the kinks.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Any excuse to be touched,” he said. “Why don’t we go back to where we were before we were interrupted?” 

Tony considered that for a second. “I’m still feeling kinda pissed at you,” Tony said. “And now I’m thinking about my dad shit.” He held Loki’s gaze for a few moments before rubbing his nose. “I don’t know,” Tony said. “I just…” He winced as a sharp pang shot up his back. “Fix my back.” Tony walked around Loki and towards one of the halls. “Where’s the bathtub in this place?” 

“It’s…down the hall, to the right.” 

“Great,” Tony said. “Yeah, I’m gonna take a bath and then you can work on my back.” 

“Yes, I wouldn’t want to dirty my hands,” Loki said to cover up the sinking feeling in his gut. He listened to the door shut and a bolt lock before he sat back down on the couch. Loki rubbed a hand up his cheek. He sat hunched over in thought, listening to the distant sounds of water running and then stopping, until Brynjar appeared. 

He grabbed the ram and traced his finger over the creature’s Iron Man mask, recalling the day Tony had given him the mechanical creature. It was alive in the same way as Andor now, but Tony had made it. Loki held him to his chest as he bleated. “Be silent, you foolish thing,” he muttered. 

 

Tony found him with Andor on his feet and Brynjar on his chest. Loki glanced up at him, not speaking. Tony was wearing a heavy flannel pair of pajama pants that only made appearances on lazy days, but had left his shirt off. “Make room,” Tony said. 

The rams ran off into one of their newly carved passages when Loki set them down. Loki backed up against the far end of the couch and opened his legs for Tony to sit in the middle. He ran a thumb across Tony’s tight shoulders. Tony’s tan skin relaxed under his meticulous fingers. He worked without speaking until Tony rewarded him with an involuntary groan. Loki set both hands on Tony’s shoulders and trailed down, feeling warm muscle against his cold hands, slender bones rising up in resistance to meet him.

Loki leaned his head down, his forehead resting against Tony’s neck. The man bit back a laugh as Loki’s hair tickled his skin. “Loki?” 

Loki’s breath drifted against him. His fingers stilled, curled around Tony’s waist. “Nothing,” he said. Tony dropped his weight back till Loki’s nose pressed against his spine. Loki lifted his head. His lips touched the junction between Tony’s neck and shoulder. “A shame,” he said. “That I have displeased the only one capable of bringing me satisfaction tonight.” 

“Yeah, well,” Tony said, grabbing the hands at his waist. “Better motivation for next time.” He squeezed Loki’s hands and then guided them up. “Now fix my shoulder, it’s killing me. And use magic, I don’t want to nurse this thing all day.” 

Loki sighed loudly, but did as Tony wished. Tony let him work the heel of his palm into his back for a few minutes before saying, “that was pretty good, as far as Loki apologies go.” The palm working into his back paused, then knocked into him as a reprimand. “Though, I’m pretty sure I’m the one that always says ‘I’m sorry.’ Do you know those words, or is it like an all-speak error…?”

“I hardly think the occasion calls for such, Stark.” Loki attempted to distract Tony by playing with one of the sweet spots hidden between his shoulder blade and spine. Tony curled reflexively at the touch. 

“Ohhh, should’ve done that sooner,” Tony said. “But yeah, I’d like an ‘I’m sorry I keep getting upset about shit and keeping you in the dark about it’ or something.” 

Loki leaned in against his ear. “Are you not the one upsetting me regarding a certain decision?” 

“Hey!” Tony said. “That’s a mutual decision. And, I didn’t lock you in a closet for a few hours while my mom went on about stuff.” 

“Be careful how you speak of my mother.” 

“Don’t get your boxers in a knot, god of mischief.” 

Loki’s hands pulled away. “I rescind my offer.” 

Tony dropped back against Loki’s chest, forcing Loki’s head to settle over his shoulder. He reached back for Loki’s hands and wrapped them around his waist, scooting back until he was pushed flush against Loki’s chest. “Just shut up for five minutes,” Tony said. He dropped his head back to get a glimpse of Loki. 

Loki relaxed after a moment and tucked his chin over Tony’s shoulder. “I don’t know why I tolerate you,” he muttered, closing his eyes. 

“Maybe I’ll remind you in the morning,” Tony said. 

“Not tonight?” Loki dared him. 

Tony grinned. It was nice to have Loki longing after him for a change.

Tony’s anger from earlier still hadn’t quite faded. “Not tonight,” he said. 

Loki pressed his lips to Tony’s neck and went back to resting his chin over his shoulder, eyes closed as he enjoyed the centering that the man’s weight against him brought. After a few minutes, Tony rocked a little as he tried to recline more. Loki’s legs folded up around him. A faint smile crawled up onto Tony’s lips. 

“I expect you to carry me to the bedroom when I fall asleep,” Tony muttered. 

“Perhaps I shall let you sleep on the floor,” Loki muttered back. 

“Mmm,” Tony murmured. “Won’t be a good morning for you then.” 

Loki’s arms pulled Tony back with him as he reclined lower into the couch. Tony’s heartbeat was reassuring under his hand, pumping beneath scarred tissue and a thin fragment of bone. “We shall have to see about that,” he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give a big thank you to everyone that gave feedback on the last chapter!! Hopefully it shaped this one in a pleasing way. It's a huge help to hear what works well so that I can work on those things and I always appreciate hearing what you're thinking/feeling too! 
> 
> Also, it would appear that I have a tendency for Loki to have a tendency to shove Tony into closets when he's keeping secrets. Ah well. At least it wasn't hiding from Steve this time, I suppose.


	44. A Walk

Loki rolled over in bed as he stirred and habitually dropped his arm to the side to settle against Tony. He met nothing but an empty space in the sheets. Opening his eyes, he looked over expecting to see Tony curled up in the corner and found nothing. 

He sat up. It was unusual for Tony to wake up first, but not unheard of. He rubbed his cheek and yawned, assuming that Tony was in the lab. Then he remembered that this home had no lab for Tony to be in. 

Throwing the covers aside, he got out of bed and padded into the kitchen. A bitter, stale scent lingered faintly in the air. Loki’s eyes flicked towards the half-empty coffeepot. There was a used mug on the counter, but no other signs of life. 

Tony was probably exploring the rooms of their new home, then. Loki tried to ignore the memory of his mother when he walked into the living room, expecting to find Tony’s sleeping body sprawled on the couch. He began a systematic walk through of the quiet house, expectantly opening every door and taking a cursory glance inside. With each door that opened to nothing, Loki’s patient morning sleepiness gave way to cautious anxiety. Tony had teased him about the morning last night, and Loki had been anticipating something. Loki was impatient to find him and see how appreciative he would be with this new technologically abundant planet, so suited to him. His absence was not expected. When at last Loki came to the front door, he found a slim strip of paper stuck to the handle. In Tony’s scrawled handwriting was a curt note. 

_Went out for a walk. -T_

* * * 

Tony circled the lamppost a second time, studying the visible circuitry. Daylight was still a ways off, though in the distance an alien sun was peaking over the horizon. After a while Tony settled onto a bench and watched as the streetlight faded with the rising sun.

By his clock, it was ten in the morning on Earth. Tony had laid in bed for a while, but between Loki’s sleep muttering and the scratching sounds in the walls, he couldn’t take it. He left the house unsettled and restless.

The streets in the city were busy with foreign creatures, but none of them seemed to be particularly interested in Tony. The fluxing and fickle All-Speak seemed to favor Tony here. He could understand most of what was said, but none of it was interesting. The city layout was grid-like and easy to remember. Tony had walked for a long time, memorizing buildings and businesses.

Tony dug his hands down into his hoodie pockets and huffed out a breath. 

He scraped the bottom of his shoe along the pavement, listening to the gritty sound that produced. 

He was pretty certain that he’d had a dream with Howard in it last night, but couldn't remember a single detail. Tony rubbed his hand under his nose. A creature walked past, flicking its tail irritably as Tony stared at it. He draped his arm across the back of the bench and went back to staring at the streetlight. 

Tony had never been under the assumption that Loki’s sort-of parents liked him. He knew how high society worked. That didn’t really bother him. He hadn’t even expected Loki to stick up for him. Loki had been consumed with keeping him alive, and Idunn’s approval or not, the announcement surely wouldn’t go over well. Tony didn’t blame him for delaying it. 

He leaned back into the bench, closing his eyes. Yesterday wouldn’t have mattered so much if Tony had been able to see it coming. 

He glanced back up at the streetlight, but it had gone out. The sun was up. Tony stuck his hands back inside his hoodie and stared up at the pink tinged sky. A vehicle blinked in and out of existence, its image gone before Tony could study it. 

He would love to pry apart each of this world’s secrets. It was the sort of thing that could take centuries, and Tony would lose them the same way he lost time in the lab. He grinned, thinking of what Jarvis would make of the requests to come. 

Jarvis had been left back at the house, confined to a lonely Stark pad and a useless cellphone. 

A glint of light caught Tony’s eye. He turned his head to see a being walk past wearing an ornately jeweled collar. Tony chewed on his lip for a second. Would that be the sort of thing that Rhodey’s fiancé appreciated? He was supposed to bring gifts to the wedding, right? The being disappeared around a corner and Tony let the thought go. He hadn’t gotten the chance to meet Rhodey’s fiancé last time. He’d only seen photos. Tony had an idea of what to get Rhodey, but maybe he could get Loki to consult on it. Loki was the one with a talent for gifts, not him. 

He rocked his shoulders under the hoodie and shifted his hips to the side, muscles complaining of the unyielding bench. A shop across the street opened its doors, and a bustle of beings Tony had never seen rushed inside. They came back out carrying long handled boxes, steam rising from the lids. It smelled meaty and sweet. 

His stomach growled. Tony sighed. He hadn’t asked Loki about the currency situation here. 

He watched as customer after customer entered and left carrying the long handled boxes, some of them with a teapot in the other hand. Few seemed to be of the same species, and Tony supposed that was why no one seemed particularly interested in him. They wore an array of clothing styles, ranging from sleek and monochromatic to bold and highly accessorized. Tony leaned his arm back against the bench. He wondered if befriending any of them would result in sharing their food with him. 

A sharp, breathless pant sounded behind him. Tony tensed as a hand set against the back of the bench. 

Loki stared, wide eyed at him, pale face lightly flushed beneath his slightly frizzed black hair. Tony pulled on a slow, sloppy grin when he recognized the irate edge to Loki’s sharp eyes. “Did you come for breakfast?” Tony asked. 

“This is hardly near our home,” Loki said. “Is this your idea of a walk?” 

“What?” Tony asked. “I’m not allowed to walk now?” He looked Loki up and down pointedly before turning around. Loki glared at the man’s rakish hair as it caught the light. “I wouldn’t think about raising kids somewhere that you don’t feel comfortable with me walking around in,” Tony said. It was a low hit, and he knew it. Loki huffed behind him and then walked around to sit on the edge of the bench. 

“Yes, walking helplessly alone in a world you understand nothing of yet is the epitome of rational thought,” Loki said. His voice wasn’t entirely hard, and Tony could just make out the exhaustion that flared on the edges of it. Loki avoided the arm that Tony had across the back of the bench, leaning to the side of it. 

Tony didn’t correct him. “I can find my way back,” Tony said casually. 

Loki folded his arms over his chest, vision fixed on the street across the way. “Can you.” 

That hung in silence between them for a few minutes. 

Loki’s chest tightened as he clenched his teeth together. The soup shop across the way was making his stomach churn, and he had never been fond of the tea they sold. 

Tony’s stomach growled again as another being passed by carrying two of the boxes. He spread his legs out a little further to take up more room on the bench. It was satisfying to have Loki avoiding space for once. The god’s knee edged back in towards himself to avoid contact with Tony. 

“Do you wish to have this here or at home?” Loki asked tersely. 

Tony considered that for a moment. Home offered the possibility of a wonderful makeup, but Tony didn’t really care about making up yet and here he could talk Loki into stealing one of those boxes for him. 

“I don’t see any closets here,” Tony said. 

“For the sake of the norns,” Loki burst out. “Would you have preferred to meet her?” 

Tony stared stubbornly ahead, keeping his face calm. He answered facetiously. “It’s been a while, she could’ve updated me on her rose garden. And then we could’ve both tried to convince you to go for that Sign chick. She sounds really—”

“Mother has attempted arrangements for years,” Loki snapped, not bothering to correct Tony’s pronunciation. “It means nothing,” he hissed. Tony dared a glance to the side. Loki was fuming as he glared down the shop. “Entertaining her only eases her suspicions. She is more perceptive when it comes to me than Odin. It would not surprise me if she went to Idunn and made an inquiry without my saying anything. I cannot allow her to think of this as more than youthful rebellion if I do not wish for her interference.” 

“Idunn would tell her the same thing she told us,” Tony said. 

“Is it always so simple in your mind?” Loki asked bitterly. “Even if you or I are not punished for the apple, there are other ways for them to carry out their disapproval.” 

Tony shrugged. “Or they’re not as Machiavellian as you'd like to think. Maybe mama dearest will get over it.” 

Loki stood. “You will not speak flippantly of her, despite the grief she causes.” 

Tony scoffed. He scratched a hand against the stubble along his trimmed facial hair. “She’s not the one causing me grief.” 

Loki’s shoulders dropped as he turned his attention onto Tony fully. An incredulous expression pulled his angular face tight. “Who then? Surely your bruised ego has quelled since last night?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “This is about my bruised ego.” Loki’s hands curled into fists at his sides. “Remember when you left out that whole potential execution for apple-y contraband thing?” Tony asked, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. “And now the ‘my family thinks you’re just a phase and I haven’t corrected them thing?” Tony’s head snapped up towards him, eyes bright. “I get your reasoning Lokes, but being the one on the receiving end of your lies? It’s not fun.” Tony stood up from the bench, dusting his hands off. “You could've told me. I mean I get it, god of lies and what not, but you don’t let me drink and sleep my way out of things.” 

Loki took a heavy, slow breath through his nose. His hands loosened until they went limp. 

“So, yeah,” Tony said. The anger rising in him broke for a moment from weariness. Quietly he confessed, “Not telling me and handling it on your own—I don’t know if you don’t trust me, or need the control, or what. But—” Tony looked away, shaking his head. He grinned uncomfortably. “The half-assed sorry’s not really hitting my sweet spot today,” Tony said. “I’m going to go get something to eat.” 

Loki’s expression faltered. “It is not so simple,” he started. “Star—Tony, could we not take this back home? This is no place for this discussion.” 

“I’m going to eat,” Tony said. “I know how to get back.” 

“I would prefer if you—”

“Loki,” Tony warned. “I can handle myself, I’m a big boy.” He flashed the cuff back and forth across his face. “And I’ll be fine. You know that.” 

Loki was silent for a moment before sullenly growling out a “fine,” and taking a step back. “Do try not to impress with your rash impulses. I have no desire to retrieve you from this planet’s judicial system.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “See you back home.” 

With conflicted rage and guilt, Loki turned. He walked back slowly, his thick boots pounding against the pavement. By the time he’d made it back to their home, he had won ten mental arguments with Tony and apologized in none of them. Yet as he swung the door open and the slip of paper floated down onto his boot, he felt nothing but melancholy. 

He kicked the paper back onto the floor and stepped on it to go down the hall. When he passed the closet another wave of guilt rushed over him. He shoved that feeling down, and went to lay on the couch until the memory of his mother’s pitying eyes came into view. “Oh, fuck it,” he snarled, subconsciously mirroring Tony’s utterance of the phrase. He was _trying_ , surely Tony could see that without it being spelled out for him. Loki pressed his palm to his forehead. Who was he kidding? Stark was not that brand of clever. 

Tony returned late that afternoon reeking of tea and soup. Loki closed his eyes as Tony’s footsteps entered the room, uncertain of what would come.


	45. Lies & Secrets

Tony took a few quiet steps into the living room. Loki was sprawled out on the couch, forearm covering his eyes as his long limbs lay tangled and unflattering in a slight fetal position. His leather shirt collar was yanked to the side, fabric straining to reveal the juncture of neck and shoulder. Tony paused for a second. It seemed as if Loki was sleeping, but he wasn’t really sure. 

Tony went straight past him and into the kitchen. He was in a good mood, up until now. He’d made friends at the soup shop. He made them because he was charming and personable, something that Loki often under appreciated. Tony found a pack of chocolate and vanilla cookies and some beer that Clint had slipped into his bag. 

It didn’t do shit for him now, but it was familiar and Tony wasn’t complaining. He’d rather binge on junk food that his altered senses couldn’t enjoy anymore than provoke Loki. Cracking open a beer, Tony sat down at the counter with his Stark pad. Once Jarvis was awakened from sleep mode, Tony began filling him in on his day, thankful for the relief that Jarvis’s sarcasm and sly comments brought. 

Loki heard Tony’s voice, bubbling along to Jarvis’s inquiries. It was obnoxious. Need he be so loud? And sincerely, what did he gain from interacting with an electronic device? He had programmed it himself, he knew what Jarvis would say, surely that meant that Jarvis was not in the least bit entertaining or interesting? 

Loki sat up. His hair fell against his warm face, flushed and uncomfortable from lying against the couch. Now he was annoyed. It should be Tony telling _him_ those things, not Jarvis. 

And who did Tony think he was, going out and having a good time in the midst of this? 

Loki stood and made a line straight for the kitchen. 

Tony ignored him when he entered, continuing a debate with Jarvis as Loki stood in one spot, looming behind. Tony laughed as Jarvis poked fun at something Tony had said. 

Loki cleared his throat. Tony glanced to the side at him, made eye contact, then shoved a cookie in his mouth and stared at the Stark pad. 

The smell of the soup and tea was nauseating. Loki wrinkled his nose with a sneer but tried to speak in a level tone. “Have you already eaten dinner?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He swiped something on the tablet and took a drink of the beer. 

Loki felt his hands curling at his sides before he realized that he was doing it. “I rearranged a few of the rooms. I placed some of your souvenirs in the front hall.” 

“‘Kay.” 

Tony shoved another cookie in his face and typed something into the pad. 

“Will you not turn that thing off?” 

Jarvis’s voice cut out abruptly. Tony flipped the button on the side, setting the pad in sleep mode. He did not look at Loki. He took a drink and stared ahead, waiting. 

“Your clothes reek of that shop,” Loki said. 

Tony flipped the tablet back on. In a sharp flick of his finger a television show began to play. The laugh track filled the air as Loki’s stare burned into the back of Tony’s head. “Must you?” Loki asked. 

“Knock it off,” Tony said. 

“I am trying to speak to you,” Loki said, declaring himself the voice of reason but letting his anger get the best of him instead. “Yet you seem to only care for your childish technology—”

Tony turned back over his shoulder. He spoke above the Stark pad’s volume. “Do you have anything new to say or are you just going to yell at me like this morning?” 

“I didn’t yell at you,” Loki said patronizingly. 

Tony dropped the pad on the counter and stood up. “I know exactly where this is going,” he said. Loki tried to block his path, but Tony just shoved his shoulder into him and kept walking. Loki trailed behind like a long shadow into the living room. 

“Just be out with it Stark,” he growled. “If you wish to bemoan my mother’s visit once more, then by all means, let me hear it.” 

Tony grinned, turning on his heel. “Oh, you want to hear it?” He taunted. “Fine. How about we start with how you haven’t changed a damn thing since this morning?” 

“I cannot understand you when you are being so obnoxiously cryptic,” Loki said primly, folding his arms over his chest. 

Tony walked up to him, puffing out his chest a little. “Yeah,” Tony said. “Like you don’t get what’s going on. First, drop the showy bullshit because we can't have two divas in this house, and second, why can’t you be the one to apologize for once?” 

“And what of last night?” Loki asked. “I thought the matter resolved,” he said, pulling the last word out slowly. He raised an eyebrow towards Tony. “Were you not well when we went to bed?” 

Tony pushed out a breath. “Yeah, well, sorry I’m not following your timeline,” Tony said. “Oh, did you catch that? Sorry?” Tony shook his head as he grinned unhappily. “If you’re going to bitch at me about something, bitch about the things I said this morning instead of trying to side step it by talking about last night.” Loki’s mouth pulled down to one side. “Yeah, one back rub didn’t exactly cancel out the whole lying thing.” 

“Lying,” Loki repeated. “You sound just like Asgard.” 

“Yeah? Well maybe they have a point.” 

It was quick, but Loki flinched at that and Tony caught it. Loki glowered as he came back down from it, his face darkening as he stared downwards at Tony. “Can you deny it?” Tony asked. 

Loki’s tongue darted over his top lip. He was silent for a moment. “You have no idea of the things they can do,” Loki said. “You have no idea,” he said harshly, hinting at something dark and unpleasant. “And I see no crime in my sparing you their ire. What did you expect me to do? You can do nothing against Asgard.” 

“Fine!” Tony pleaded, throwing his arm out to the side. “Maybe I don’t know what their unholy wrath is going to be, but it’s not like you’re there cluing me in on it!” He yearned and wished that he could make Loki see reason. “You can’t be mad at me about that!” 

Loki blinked, eyes darting up to the left. His arms folded against his chest tightened. “It is best that they not be aware,” he said. 

“That’s not the point!” Tony shot back, half snapping and half pleading. “I. Don’t. Care. About. Them!” For the second time Loki flinched, and this time when he looked at Tony it was as if he thought that Tony had gone a bit mad. “This isn’t about them! This is about you and me and you refusing to listen to what I’m saying.” Tony took another step away, wishing that he had something for his hands to fidget with. He spoke with them instead. “You’re still worried about what Asgard thinks! You’re still worried about what Odin and Frigga, and you’re not going to like this one, but yes, Thor, will say. You’re still thinking about them, Loki!” 

Loki’s shoulders rocked upwards as he sneered, opening his mouth to correct Tony. The man was faster. “Don’t.” Tony warned. “You are. You still care, I get that. That’s fine. And I get the other part too. They have power and money and use it to yank you around. You think I don’t understand that? You think I don’t know how difficult that is?” 

“It is different,” Loki said. “You own your empire.” 

Tony’s blood pressure spiked. “Do you think that was handed to me?” His mouth twitched between a fake smile and a quivering break. “You think that Obadiah was _easy?_ ” 

Loki’s gaze dropped to the ground. He answered flatly, conceding to nothing but not wishing for Tony to travel down that particular road any further. He knew the issues that brought up for Tony well. “A traitor and a monarchy are different things. Those were decades. I have endured this a millennia.”

“No, that’s, that’s the point,” Tony said. He raked his fingers through his hair, neck stiff with tension. “I didn’t do that alone. I had Yinsen. I had Rhodey. I had Pepper.” Tony breathed in deeply, his chest shaking. “I never would’ve done it without them.” 

Loki flicked a piece of lint off his sleeve. He answered slowly, eyes anchored towards the floor. “Thor’s band of warriors showed me no respect when I was properly king. I haven’t a band of comrades upon Asgard to aid me as such, Stark.” 

“You have _me_ ,” Tony said, fingers digging into his chest as he gestured to himself. Loki barely had enough time to grasp onto and process that before Tony continued. “And either that’s not enough, or you don’t trust me, or don’t want to, or I don’t know—” Tony dug both of his hands through his hair and took another step away. He turned around, not wanting Loki to see his face. “I’m not gonna—” Tony’s hand wobbled off to the side, trying to conjure up the word he wanted. “Gonna keep saying it.” 

A small crack fissured through Loki’s chest as he watched Tony turn around, shoulders shaking as the man held his breath. His throat constricted tightly. “I—” He reached out a hand and then dropped it to his side, head spinning. This was always the part where he lost control. It was the part where he lost it with Thor, it was the part where he lost it with his mother, and she always saw it in him too…Tony was starting to walk out of the room. “Wait,” Loki said. He sucked a breath in, fighting to stay composed. “You haven’t an error in your judgment. I—” He bit his lip. “Bought the lies of Asgard for a long while, and it is only recently that I have considered another path, one that—” Tony was still, listening. Loki stared at the back of his head, wishing that Tony would finish the sentence for him. He was not spared. “That includes you,” Loki said quietly. 

Tony let out a breath he’d been holding in. The pounding in his head simmered down. 

“That was centuries,” Loki said. “And I—I do not change as easily as you.” 

Tony rubbed the heel of his palm against his forehead. He dropped his hand down and hooked his thumb into his belt loop. “You can, though.” 

“…yes.” 

Tony turned back around, letting Loki see the red that had flushed into his face. “You have to,” Tony said. Loki had dropped his arms to his sides, but now they rose again and settled back over his chest. “Loki,” Tony said. “Look, I’ll admit I was kinda into the whole control thing when we started, but I’m not mortal anymore. You’re gonna—I’ve changed,” Tony said. “We have to upgrade, we can’t keep running on Windows 7.” 

“Are you happy?” Loki asked, seizing on that anxiety above all else. There was no weakness in his voice. He stood absolutely still as he braced for an answer. 

Tony’s face softened. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I mean, yeah. I would take the apple again, I want to be with you—” He ignored the tear that slipped down Loki’s face at that admission. It was quickly wiped away by the god’s swift finger as if nothing had happened. “—but I’m not some helpless mortal you’re dragging around the universe anymore. And then you’re talking about kids, and I don’t even know what that’s about, I’m still trying to figure out why you haven’t told me about something that was killing you.” 

As Tony heard the words leave his mouth, a moment of clarity struck him. He’d matured. This was the emotional gunk that he would’ve pried his own arm off to avoid if he could, and now he was dealing with it. Pepper would’ve been proud. _Tony_ felt proud, realizing that. Somewhere across the universe Pepper had to be feeling it. 

Loki looked away from Tony, the age on his face more apparent than ever. He hated this emotional side of himself. It was the side that always lost. “I would rather you have taken the apple,” he said. 

“I know,” Tony said. “Could’ve done both.” 

“You…” Loki said. His eyes narrowed as he considered something. “You do not disclose everything to me either.” Tony didn’t seem to follow his line of thought. His face was watchful, waiting. “You have remarked upon Rhodey’s engagement eight times in a few days. Perhaps you…perhaps you are having regrets.” 

“Rhodey’s engagement is kind of a big fucking deal,” Tony said. “Rhodey matters to me. Yeah, gonna talk about it. And you, reindeer games, could help me pick out wedding gifts if you’re feeling remorseful.” 

“Is that not the same thing? Keeping that to yourself?” Loki asked, eager to turn things back onto Tony. 

Tony crossed his arms, picking up as much. “When would’ve been a good time to bring it up?” He asked. “While I was having a 1984 moment with the rams in the closet or on the street this morning?” Loki stared at him. “And when’d you ask?” 

“…as if I need ask,” Loki said, thoughts racing across his mind too quickly to all be voiced. “Your friends are aging, and soon they will notice that you have ceased to follow them, and I…I have respected your lie,” Loki said. The next breath in was choppy, but he held steady, imperiously staring down the man whose temper was rekindling. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Tony asked. 

“You have no desire to tell them, do you not?” Loki asked, voice rising. He had been watching Tony for months. He knew what Tony was doing, and Tony had better not dare to lie to him now. “You wish for them to join you in immortality, and if you cannot conceive of a manner to achieve that, in any case, you are in no hurry to tell them.” Tony’s eyes widened, almost panicked. Loki had known about his experiments then, and chosen to say nothing. “You have not told them of the apple, just as I have not told Asgard. How am I at fault for that?” 

Tony swallowed hard. He felt a little queasy, or light headed at least. “It’s not the same,” he said. 

“Isn’t it?” Loki asked, steadier now that he was gaining. “You have not disclosed your allegiance with me to them, and there is no threat looming over your head.” 

“God dammit Loki, it’s not the same!” Tony mentally called out to the suit, wishing he had its reassurance. “Everyone on Asgard’s immortal. Nobody on Earth is! How’s it going to make them feel if I tell them I’m not going to die like they are?” Tony’s bottom lip wobbled. His mouth contorted into a frown against his will, but he kept trying to smooth it out and kept failing. “I—” Tony’s voice broke. “I can’t watch them—” He hid his hands against his face, rubbing them against his cheeks in reassurance. He hiccuped, body overwhelmed in the onslaught of emotion. 

“I know,” Loki said somberly. “And I have respected your lie. You have not disclosed it to me.” 

Tony was silent for a moment, shaky breaths coming out under his hands. He waited until he could answer evenly. “But you get why I’m doing it.” He took his hands from his face. He sucked in a breath. “And I don’t get why you are.” 

“You have not voiced these emotions to me,” Loki said. “You have kept them to yourself. Surely then I can keep unwanted emotions to myself?” 

“I would’ve told you if you’d asked!” 

“Stark—”

“No, don’t Stark me. You can’t keep me at arms length with that and then say that shit.” Tony knocked into the couch as he stepped further back. His arms flew out to catch his balance. He righted himself, standing up straight and crossing his arms tightly. “I want a real fucking apology, and I want you to stop turning everything back on me when this was about you.” Tony’s lip was quivering again, but he was pushing through it. “Yeah, so I’ve got some kinks to work out with the immortality thing, but I chose it and I chose you. That’s not the same as hiding the fact that we were both marked men. Not anywhere close!” 

“You could’ve done _nothing_!” 

“So?!” 

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose tightly. He drew in a long breath, shoulders hunched in on himself, and then straightened up. He began to pace the room. “Yes,” he said. “I should have divulged it to you, untamable thing that you are, so that you would attempt to rectify it just as you attempt to create immortality.” Loki spoke deliberately, hands gesturing as he walked. “Yes, divulge it to you, so that you may indulge your selfish heroism in an ignorant attempt to spare us both!” Loki glanced at him and away just as fast. “It would not be a kindness to tell you, for you would not let it stand!” He saw Tony steady himself with a hand against the couch out of the corner of his eye. “There was nothing you could do, why should I have let you suffer with the knowledge, knowing your nature?” 

“Because,” Tony said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.” 

Loki paused. He gave Tony a dismissive glance. He resumed pacing. 

“And I did fix it,” Tony said. “God! Why are you so hung up on knowing everything all the time? You were wrong, okay? You were wrong. And if you'd told me, we could’ve done something about it sooner, and even if we couldn’t, you don’t have to take care of me! You can tell me things! And if you weren’t such a stubborn bastard about it all of the time—”

“What is it you wish then?” Loki yelled, circling back to where Tony stood. 

“Let me in,” Tony said, emphasizing each word. 

Loki huffed and stretched his neck towards the ceiling. “I give you so much,” he muttered through clenched teeth. 

“It’s not about things!” Tony exclaimed. 

Loki spun towards him, eyes flashing. “I have let in more of you than any other being in the nine realms. Have you any idea—a millennia, Sta-Tony. A _millennia_.” 

“No, but I’m about to!” Tony threw back. He heard a strange scratching and creaking in the ceiling above him, but brushed it off. “What’re you so pissed about, anyway?” 

Loki felt the wobbly convulsion of a palpitation in his chest. The loathing emanated from in waves. “I do not—” Loki frowned. He closed his eyes as he rubbed the fingers of one hand into his temples, keeping the other protectively crossed over his chest. Finally he dropped the hand to look into Tony’s eyes. “I doubt—” He combed his fingers through his hair and let out a deep breath. 

Tony watched him for a minute, mentally urging him to keep going. When it was clear that Loki wouldn’t, Tony spoke. “Tell me.” 

Loki picked a point on the distant wall to fixate on. “You regret and you…waste effort in an attempt to save your comrades, and I…” By the nine, Loki would’ve stormed straight out if he weren’t so exhausted, if he weren't so weary. “I doubt your satisfaction with me.” 

“Why?” 

Loki’s hand had found its way back into his dark hair. He frowned as he stared down at the floor. “Loki,” Tony said. “Thinking about them doesn’t mean that I don’t think about you.” Loki shook his head. 

“I have asked, and you have refused, and I often conclude that it is because…you do not consider me worthy of such a choice.” 

“Are we…are we back to the kids thing?” Tony asked. Loki nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Have you been listening to what I’ve said?” Again Loki nodded, fixating on that point on the wall. “And you still think it’s because…I don’t want you enough or something?” 

“I consider that possibility,” Loki admitted. 

“I said it’s on the table,” Tony said. “That doesn’t mean no. Why’re you…why’re you so fixated on it?” Tony sunk down onto the couch, the adrenaline shaking through him making it difficult to remain standing. “That just, I never would’ve expected it from you. I can’t work it out. Where is it coming from?” 

“I—” They both heard a cracking sound in the ceiling and glanced up. The sound ceased. Wearily they looked back towards each other. “I have answered you that already. And I desire my own family,” Loki admitted begrudgingly. “One that did not choose me for my political potential. One of my making.” 

“Okay,” Tony said. They sat in silence for a moment. “But we’re not there yet, Loki. It’s a decision we both have to be ready for, and I’m telling you, I’m not.” He scratched his hand against his thigh. “We have a lot of us stuff right now, and I’m still really angry at you tonight.” This time Loki looked at him, but he seemed weary, not remorseful. Tony found his anger rising back up again. “I mean, again, we’re back to me. How I’m not giving you what you want. How about you not giving me what I want?” 

“You wish for an apology,” Loki stated. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “But also you letting me take the lead a little more often, and telling me shit, and I don’t know—making me feel wanted back.” Tony shrugged his shoulders, not uncrossing his arms. He met Loki with a mirthless smile. “Instead of mortal and not strong enough for you. It works both ways, you know.” 

Just then there was another loud crack in the ceiling. They smelled smoke, and before either could say something, a section of the ceiling crashed down. 

The bracelet flickered, sending out a short pulse. A piece of the ceiling skidded away from where they stood. 

A pipe burst, spraying water into the room as an electrical wire snapped and fizzed. 

“Have to say, I wasn’t expecting wiring here,” Tony said, coughing. The crumbled ceiling bits had avoided impacting Loki, that much he could tell as the god’s form moved through the thick black smoke. Loki was hunching down. Tony coughed harder. 

Tony saw something glint in the smoke, and reached down. He hooked his finger around a horn in Andor’s helmet and lifted the ram up. His fur was black with soot, and there was a section of wire wedged between his teeth. “Hey buddy,” Tony said. Andor’s eyes were closed. Tony coughed harder. 

The smoke vanished from the room. Loki stood in the middle, looking absolutely morose with Brynjar in his hands and the broken pipe drenching his clothes and hair. “I’m going to shut off the power,” Tony yelled over, heading for the door. 

He tucked Andor under his arm and got out of the room as quickly as he could. 

Andor wasn’t responding, and Tony didn’t want Loki to see that. Tony petted the ram’s fur, quietly pleading for him to wake up as he ran downstairs. He found the circuit breaker easily enough, and although the system was different, Tony figured it out quickly. He shut off the power to the affected floors. “Okay,” Tony said, rubbing his hand through Andor’s fur. “You’ve got to wake up because this is not the time for you to pull a stunt like this.” Tony pressed Andor to his chest. “Please, you little bastard, not tonight.” 

The ram was still hot. Tony took that as a good sign. He eased the wire out of Andor’s mouth. Slowly, ever so slowly, he felt the faintest thrum as Andor began to purr. 

He bleated, than coughed, and Tony almost passed out from relief. “You just need to get cleaned off,” Tony said, rubbing his shirt against Andor’s helmet to remove the soot. “Why won’t you open your eyes?” Tony asked, mostly to himself. “Maybe I just need to wash you off a bit.” 

Tony jogged into the nearest bathroom and got Andor into the sink, scrubbing the soot out of his fur. Without ash in his eyes, the ram was content to open his beady eyes. He let out a triumphant cry. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re real proud of your work,” Tony said. “Let’s go upstairs before someone starts looking for us.” 

Tony expected the living room to be magically repaired when he got back. He could only make out the dim features of the room from the city light outside, and it was clear that the pipe was still spraying water. The carpet was soaked. “Loki?” Tony called out. He jogged down the hall. “Loki?” 

He saw a light peering out from the bathroom door. “Loki?” Tony cracked the bathroom door open. 

There was a flame floating above Loki’s head for light as he sat kneeling on the floor with Brynjar in his lap. With one hand he sorted through a box of magical items, and the other he stroked Brynjar’s fur. “Is he okay?” Tony asked gently, sitting down onto the floor with him. He kept a steady hold on Andor. 

Loki’s nose sniffed loudly before he answered. “Yes,” he said flatly. “I fixed him.” 

He turned Brynjar over in his lap, applying a tube of fluorescent green liquid. Loki worked quickly, delicately repairing the intricate mingle of life and mechanics in the ram. Loki dug in the box for something else, rattling everything that was inside. He found a jar of white cream and took a thick smudge of it to wipe over the ram’s face. 

Brynjar stirred to life, purring as though nothing had happened. Loki’s hands dropped down to his sides. He didn’t say anything. There was a quiet intensity to him. “Here,” Tony said, reaching over and taking Brynjar from his lap. “You go fix the ceiling. I’ll wash him off.” 

Loki rose without saying anything and left the room, a pool of water in his wake. 

Tony let out a long sigh and stood up. He set Andor on the edge of the sink, where Andor smugly watched his friend complain about the impromptu bath. Tony scrubbed soap through Brynjar’s fur in silence, not reacting as the creature attempted to bite him. Loki had been pushed too far tonight, and Tony knew that only meant another blowup would be coming. Tony bit his lip. The rams could not have picked a worse time for their tricks. He rinsed off Brynjar’s fur and grabbed a towel, drying him off just as Loki walked back in. 

Loki stooped down and grabbed the box. He stood, staring down at the contents for a moment. 

Then Tony felt it. The most awful sort of anguish, rollicking off in reaction to the rams. It was the most prominent, but then the other parts started flooding in—anger, doubt, frustration, confusion, helplessness, indignation, shame—and then it was coming to regard Tony, and Tony could feel the immensity of a love wash over him, and then the fear of that love, the uncertainty of it, how unbelievable it was that such a love could be felt at all, and the anxiety at what that might mean, and the fear that even worse, it couldn’t be returned—“Woah, hey, okay,” Tony said, prying the egg from Loki’s palm. 

It only took a few seconds for Tony’s fingers to snatch it and slip it back into the box, but not before several of his emotions sang out—heartbreak in response to feeling that, a surging sense of protection, frustration, overwhelming love— Tony glared at him as he dropped it in the box. “Weren’t you the one that told me using that thing’s manipulative?” 

It took Loki a moment to understand those words. He was too busy feeling ashamed of doubting Tony, when he felt the depth of love that was returned to him in that moment. “I am trying,” Loki said quietly. 

Tony took a step forward, closing the space between them in the small bathroom. “I know,” he said, wrapping his arms around Loki’s waist. Loki was stiff, refusing to give in to the comfort that Tony was offering. Loki reached over and traded the box for Brynjar on the sink’s edge. Tony sighed and let go. “Can you turn the lights back on without me running downstairs?” 

They blinked on all around them. The flame floating above them vanished. 

Tony grabbed Andor with one hand and set his arm against Loki’s back with the other. “Come on,” Tony said quietly. He guided Loki out of the bathroom and then let go.

They walked to the bedroom in silence. Tony set Andor on the bed and then shucked his jeans off. He threw back the covers and crawled in. Loki stood at the corner of the bed, looking uncertain. When Tony rolled onto his side, Loki finally decided to set Brynjar down and followed suit. He climbed into bed wearing pajamas, and said nothing as he pulled the covers over his shoulders. 

He faced the wall. He had shown too much of himself tonight, been too emotional, and even had so great a lapse in judgment as to grab the egg. 

Andor barked, defending Loki’s pillow from Bynjar. He head butted his friend, sending Brynjar tumbling down the side of the pillow and back onto the mattress. Loki felt Andor’s fur settle against his head. At least they were staying on his side of the bed. He didn’t want Tony to have another reason to be angry. 

Loki scooted over to the edge a little more, folding his knees up as he laid on his side. Brynjar had snuck up the other side of the pillow, and now he had two rams against his head, talking at each other in little barks. “Shhh,” Loki whispered for Tony’s sake. 

He had been far too emotional. Far too vulnerable. He should’ve said things differently, he should’ve kept his composure instead of falling apart. Thor had always teased him for it when they fought, and he'd been right. If Loki had just stayed calm, he could’ve proven things to Tony instead of embarrassing himself. He had made a mistake, he had—he flinched. Tony’s toe had grazed his calf. 

“Come here,” Tony muttered. “The rams want your pillow.” 

“It’s fine,” Loki said. He clenched his hand into a fist. There was not a shard of him that was not exhausted. He was mentally, physically, and emotionally drained. 

Tony’s hand found his hipbone and tugged a little, prompting him. 

“You’re angry,” Loki told the wall. 

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want you too,” Tony said, tugging more insistently at his hipbone. With a sigh, Loki rolled over. Tony’s warm brown eyes met him expectantly. Tony grabbed another pillow from behind him and set it between them. “Over here,” he said. 

Loki swallowed. He didn't understand Tony sometimes, and didn’t have the energy to interrogate him now. After a moment he pulled himself into the center of the bed, abandoning his old pillow for the new one between them. Tony’s arms came over him and Tony buried his face into Loki’s shoulder as if nothing had happened between them. 

Ever so slowly, Loki felt his entire body go limp and relax. It was a reflex, Tony always brought him down like this, taking that edge off. The tightness in his chest began to fade. Loki stared over Tony’s tousled hair at the other wall. 

Tony dug his nose in, wrapping his leg over Loki. Loki wouldn't move and it annoyed him. “It’s fine,” Tony muttered against the thin cotton shirt Loki wore. He only wore that shirt when he was certain that Tony wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Tony leaned up for a breath of cold air. “Go to sleep Loki, we can talk tomorrow.” 

Stiffly, Loki’s arm set over him. Tony’s forehead dropped back against his shoulder. He decided that was enough. Loki stared at the wall, unwittingly calmed by Tony’s actions, but weary of him all the same. Loki’s body may have been content, but that didn’t fool his mind. 

Half an hour passed by. The longer Loki stared at the wall, feeling the warmth of Tony seeping into his shirt and his breath drifting over his neck, the stronger that ease got. Tony had gotten uncomfortable and kept worming his face into Loki’s stiff neck or shoulder. Tony was fidgeting far too often to be asleep, but he was making the effort. 

The rams were purring faintly behind Loki. They were asleep, enviable creatures. It was the first time that Tony had allowed them onto the bed. Tony must’ve been feeling generous, or perhaps he pitied Loki after tonight. Tony’s leg slid down his, as if he was intentionally dislodging that thought. Tony wriggled on his side until he was firmly pressed against Loki again. He sighed loudly, but it didn't seem to be because he was making a point. 

Loki tilted his head up, allowing Tony a little more space than the tight crook he’d been offering. After a while he felt Tony’s body relaxing against him, muscles finally releasing tension. His breathing slowed. Loki waited until he thought that Tony was asleep. Quietly, as softly as he could manage, Loki spoke. “I do regret my actions,” he whispered. 

Tony felt the faint vibration in Loki’s throat, and understood the whispered words. He let himself fall the rest of the way into sleep. It was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tea and blankets for everyone~, it's hard, but the things they'd been avoiding finally caught up with them. (and they won't stay in discord, promise!)  
> Please let me know your interpretations!


	46. An Imperfect Resolution

The sight of Natasha’s red curls in the lab startled Bruce. He recovered quickly, brushing away the tea he’d spilled on his shirt as Natasha stood up from the glass enclosure. Two rams followed her movements with their tiny black eyes. 

Tony’s rams barked when they spotted Bruce. They didn’t bother him, but occasionally he felt the other guy take extra interest in them, flipping between curiosity and apprehension. Bruce took a steadying breath. “When’d Tony get back?” He asked. 

Natasha shook her head. “He’s not,” she said. From her belt she pulled a silver dagger and tossed it up in the air, catching it by the hilt with a true smile. 

“And that is…” Bruce asked, walking past her and taking a seat at the computer chair. He booted up a monitor as Natasha admired the serpentine engraving. 

“Payment,” Natasha said. “For being a good babysitter.” One of the rams bleated loudly behind her. Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Apparently, Loki thinks that I can do a good job.” Bruce typed something into the computer. 

“Since when does he drop them off?” 

Natasha shrugged. “He didn’t offer that up.” She set the dagger back into its sheath on her belt. It had magical precision, that much Loki had demonstrated. It was only hers if she kept the rams perfectly content. Her fingers danced along the hilt again. He had been wise to pay up front. She was determined to keep the dagger, and Loki had hinted there would be another if he was satisfied. 

Bruce stole a glance at the rams and then returned to typing a report. “Is there some reason that he picked you to be their sitter?” 

“He said our natures are similar,” Natasha said with a pinched glare. “I think he was making fun of me.” 

Bruce chuckled. “I think he was right.” 

“Did I show you my new dagger?” She asked playfully, plucking it back out and twirling it along her fingers. 

“Yes,” Bruce assured her. The keyboard clattered away for a few seconds. “I bet Tony was thrilled to hand them off.” 

“I wouldn’t know,” Natasha said. “He wasn’t with Loki.”

* * * 

Tony hadn’t been surprised to wake up and find the bed empty. He was just grateful that the bathroom was unoccupied as he slumped inside. After splashing cold water on his face, Tony decided to take a shower just so that he could avoid venturing into the rest of the house for a while longer. He needed time to process last night.

He took a long one. When he finally dragged himself out of the hot water, he lazily dried his hair with a towel and then shaved his face. He cracked open the bathroom door. The coast was clear. 

Tony dug through their clothes until he found his favorite shirt. He left the remnants of his search all over the floor. Then he slipped on the most comfortable pair of pants he owned and made a beeline for the kitchen. 

Finding it empty, Tony made coffee. He sat down with his Stark Pad and propped his feet up on the chair across from him. He didn’t look for Loki. Loki could sulk all day if he wanted. Tony had decided that he wasn’t going to be the first to extend the metaphorical olive branch this time. 

He felt a little bad about how upset Loki had gotten, but he also knew from experience that it only meant a worse outburst would follow. One where Loki asserted just how in control he was to makeup for before. Tony refilled his coffee. He prepared for a long day. 

Somewhere in the middle of the cup, it occurred to Tony that the rams had not made an appearance. They often came at the first sign of food, or rather, the first sign of Tony being conscious. Yet before he could pursue that thought any further, Loki appeared in the doorway. 

He walked in, shoulders hunched forward. Beneath his eyes were heavy dark circles against his pallid skin. He wore a section of armor over a loose fitting black tunic and pants. It was sloppy, Tony thought, which was unusual and probably not a good sign. Tony wrapped his lips around the brim of his cup and stalled his drink as long as it took for Loki to speak. 

After a few moments, Loki went to take the chair across from Tony. Tony’s feet didn’t budge. Loki’s eyebrows bent downward in anger, but then he seemed to think better of it. He took the chair that was catty corner instead and sat down. 

“You wished to continue our conversation in the morning,” Loki stated. He glanced at Tony. The man was watching him astutely from above his coffee cup, eyes dancing with fire, ready to play or ignite at any moment. Loki’s hands clasped together under the table, one thumb brushing against his other hand. 

Tony held his breath. If Loki was going to come straight out and apologize, it would be a world record. No, universal record—

“I thought that perhaps we should go elsewhere,” Loki said, looking past him to the city beyond. “Our time here has not been fortunate. Perhaps our luck would be better somewhere else.” 

“Let me guess,” Tony said. “Somewhere a little boozy, or sleazy, where it’ll be easy for me to get distracted and forget this ever happened?” Tony gave him a knowing, confident dismissal. Loki frowned but held steady, not acting guilty or caught in the slightest. “Not interested,” Tony said. He glanced past Loki, looking for something, and then picked his tablet up. “Also, our little devils seem to be on the loose, and I call not-it for catching them.” 

“They are not here,” Loki said. 

Tony’s eyebrows shot up but his mouth stayed still. He recovered quickly. “What do you mean, not here?” His words wavered between anxiety and suspicion.

“I am quite sincere about moving to another location, and thought perhaps we could use time without their distraction.” 

The pad slid forward from Tony’s slackening grip. For a moment he was almost astonished, but then his lips smiled up to one side. “Are you…are you getting at some one on one time…minus the rams?” Tony almost laughed. He rubbed his hand over his face. “Afraid they’re going to fall through the ceiling again? Wow. What is it with you and them, huh?” 

Tony wanted to laugh, but then he remembered that he was still mad. 

“Whatever,” he said suddenly. He glanced down and shoved away any lightheartedness that he’d felt. “I think the location’s just you trying to get out of apologizing,” Tony said, staring at his tablet. 

Loki’s hands curled into fists beneath the table. “I do regret the circumstances we find ourselves in,” Loki said, anger flying across his constrained words. “And perhaps if you would cease to mock our pets and your stubborn refusal to change locations, I could make that evident.” 

Tony answered callously, taking a noisy sip of his drink halfway through. “You’re doing that thing where you talk around it instead of just saying it.” 

Loki’s fingers dug into his thighs as the muscles across his body tightened. “Tony,” he warned. 

“Just say ‘I’m sorry,” Tony said. “Say it, or we’re not getting anywhere else today.” 

Loki seethed at him. His breathing was loud to his own ears. He considered Tony’s words, picking at them for ways out, but he knew Tony too well. He answered with gritted teeth. “I am sorry.” 

“Was that so hard?” Tony asked, a little condescendingly. 

“Stark.” 

“Yeah. Fine, whatever,” Tony said. “Where was it you wanted to go?” 

Despite Tony’s flippancy, Loki calmed down by a fraction at the question. He waited a few moments before answering. “I had planned to leave that decision in your hands,” he said. 

Tony stopped fucking around with every distraction he could get his hands on and looked right at Loki. This was new. Loki, giving up control of the situation at a time like this? No way. “What’s the catch?” Tony asked. 

“None,” Loki said testily. They sat in silence as Tony worked that answer over. Loki braced himself for Tony’s reply, everything in his body stiff and rigid. The quiet only assured Loki that his worst expectations were true. 

“I don’t care,” Tony said calmly. “You pick.”

The surprise showed on Loki’s face. He fumbled to conceal it. “Then…” He said, staring at the table. “I have a suggestion.” Tony huffed like he’d been expecting that and took a noisy slurp of his coffee. “It is not under our ownership, but we will be able to stay there without intrusion.” 

“So, like a…” Tony began. 

“Resort,” Loki offered, selecting it as the closest word in Tony’s understanding to what the place was. 

“With a no pet policy,” Tony said. 

“Of sorts,” Loki answered. Tony seemed to be getting more reasonable, so he continued. “They are not expressly forbidden, but it would not be ideal for them. Nor do we need the distraction,” Loki added, so that Tony wouldn’t think he’d been lying before. If he could get Tony talking, Tony wouldn’t be able to stay upset. 

“And where are they, exactly?” 

Loki rubbed at the back of his neck. “I have left them in the Black Widow’s care.” 

Tony really wanted to laugh again. And he would have, if it had been a different time. Picturing Loki negotiating the rams with Natasha was precious. “And what did Natasha say to that?” 

“She accepted,” Loki said. 

Tony hummed skeptically at that. He suspected there was more involved, but he didn’t want to get chatty with Loki. Loki had a way of working things to his favor if he got Tony talking. “Alright,” Tony said. “But I’m finishing this first.” 

Loki watched him across the table while he resumed drinking his coffee as if there was all the time in the world while he played around on his infernal tablet. Loki’s jaw went tight as he unconsciously clenched his teeth. His fingers twitched in little motions against his thighs as his expression grew ever more sullen. At another time, he would’ve let himself soften at the way Tony’s warm aesthetic appealed to him on a lazy morning, but now it only made him angrier. He loathed the thread barren cotton collar in Tony’s shirt, the laugh lines around his mouth, the way his thumb tapped against the mug’s handle. 

Tony didn’t like the way Loki was watching him. He wasn’t saying anything, and Tony couldn’t detect anything past irate god mode, but it didn’t feel like he was winning this power play. Tony stuck out his hand. “Fine. Let’s go.” 

Loki snatched his hand with unnecessary force, and then they were falling. 

 

It was night where they landed. Tony looked up to see the starriest sky he’d ever seen. He heard a crackle of a fire to their left, and looked over to see that Loki taking a seat in a reclining chair on the far side of it. Tony glanced back. 

There was a small house lit up behind the stone fire pit. A hazy yellow light cast from inside the windows onto the stone patio. There was one reclining chair other than the one Loki had taken, and a small table between them. In the far distance, Tony saw an identical house, though it had no fire lit. Elsewhere there was nothing but a rolling field. In the dark it was hard to discern whether it was grassy marshland or something else. 

When Tony turned around, Loki was pouring himself a drink from a wine bottle. 

Loki caught his judging eye and answered sharply. “I see no need to abstain from a few moments peace. Have no doubts, we will continue our talk.” Tony didn’t say anything. Loki’s confidence seemed to have returned now that they’d moved. Tony walked past where Loki lay primly reclined and slid open the house door. 

The interior temperature was cool, and the house itself was not too large. There was a sizable bed to his left, but the right only had a reasonably sized kitchen. There was a small living area beyond the bed with a few chairs, but the walls were all glass. He could see perfectly onto the marshlands, but he couldn’t see in from outside. Tony knew it had to be beautiful when the lights were off, and it irked him a little. 

Tony opened a dresser and found a mingle of their clothes inside. He looked for his tablet, but wasn’t really surprised to find that Loki had conveniently left it behind. Tony went back to the door and slid it open. 

“Stark Pad,” Tony said. 

“Bottom left,” Loki said. 

Tony slid the door shut. He walked over to the drawer he’d already checked, and knew before he’d opened it that the tablet would be sitting on top. Tony took it out and flopped down on the bed. 

He looked for a light switch and found none. He tried a variety of methods that had worked on other worlds until finally grumbling, “lights out already.” The stars above greeted him then, winking down from every angle, and reflecting in streams of light in the marshy lands beyond. Tony played games, worked on formulas, and ended up reading a book for what felt like hours. In the darkened room, he was easily becoming sleepy again. When he heard the door roll open, it seemed like it was happening somewhere far away. 

“I would have you outside now,” Loki said reluctantly. Tony turned his head over on the pillow and looked up at him. 

“Oh? Is it time to share with the class?” 

Loki’s hand shifted to the side as if he was about to yank the door shut. “Need we drag this out?” 

“No,” Tony agreed, rolling out of the bed and leaving the tablet behind. Loki left the door open for him. Tony took the open recliner and helped himself to a glass of whatever Loki was having. It was sweet, but didn't pack a punch like Tony had been expecting. In fact, it didn’t taste alcoholic at all. 

“Epli juice,” Loki said, as if answering a question. He turned his own glass around in his hands, tightly gripping the brim. “I am willing to hear your grievances.” 

“We’re not in court,” Tony said. “Chill out for a second.” Tony downed all of what was in his hand, then set the empty glass down. “Alright,” Tony said. “First off, love the choice of venue, very…” Tony paused. “It almost reminds me of that vineyard we went to,” Tony said aloud. “God, that was a long time ago.” 

“I thought the same,” Loki murmured. 

“Interesting,” Tony said. He sat up from the recliner and set his feet over the side. Hunching over his knees with his hands clasped, he looked up at Loki. “Fine, let’s cut to the chase. Have you given any thought what so ever to what I said yesterday?” 

A warm breeze blew across the patio, catching their hair and the looser parts of their clothing. Loki brushed a lock of hair out of his face with the back of his hand. “I understand that you are quite displeased with my keeping the full state of our affairs from you.” 

Loki was about to continue that line of thought, but Tony jumped in immediately. “You mean,” Tony translated, “that I’m pissed at you for lying about the conditions on the apple. And keeping me out. Go on.” 

Loki’s lips twisted to the side. Tony leaned in a little closer. The chairs were noticeably far apart, and Loki wasn’t making any effort to close the formal distance. “And I see no error in my reasoning. You could not have done anything, and your knowing would only have endangered us both, as you and I know how you would have reacted.” 

“You don't think that maybe,” Tony said, voice jumping out of casual conversation and into something that felt inappropriate in the quiet marshland. “You did something wrong lying to me? That maybe I should’ve been included in on that, whether it was convenient for you or not?” 

Loki’s fingertips drummed along the metal arc of his armrest. 

“Let’s start there,” Tony said. “You lied to me.” 

Loki didn’t flinch or move or give anything away to placate Tony in the least. He sat there cooly as Tony’s heart started to pump a little faster. “About something big,” Tony said. “This isn’t like you lied to me about what day of the week it was, or that you broke my favorite mug or something. This is you lying to me about something fucking huge, Loki.” 

Tony braced his arms on either side of him and adjusted his position on the chair before settling back down again. “Do you get why I’m mad?” Tony asked. Loki’s eyes flicked towards him, dark in the firelight. “How am I supposed to trust you when you pull shit like this?” 

“You have not always demonstrated trust in me,” Loki said. His words growled around something old and hurt. 

Tony’s face quirked up into an unspoken _how so_ , sassy and challenging at the same time. 

Loki rested his head against the back of the chair and stared out onto the dark horizon. “You doubted whether I would remain loyal to you,” Loki said. It was clipped, as if he was embarrassed to be acknowledging it, but angry and wounded too. “You questioned my loyalty when I have given you no cause.” 

That struck particularly hard. 

“You hesitated on the apple because you hesitated on me,” Loki said. 

The words hung in the air, and Tony was reeling from how obviously long Loki had been holding onto them. “It’s not like that,” Tony said, wedged between the reflex to reassure Loki and the heat of his own anger. “I had a lot of things to think about, it wasn’t just about you. I mean we’ve been over that, the things I had to think about—and you—Loki,” Tony said. The god turned towards his name. “Do you remember the first time you brought the apple up?” Tony’s tongue flicked over his lips. Loki waited for him to continue. “It was one of the nights that I—”

“Fell ill,” Loki filled in for him. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “That—that was the first time you asked. When I was lying on the floor, just coming back to consciousness, not—not this. Not surrounded by some stunning alien place, but sweaty and gross and I’d just puked my guts out before passing out and I was—not good,” Tony said. Almost dead would’ve been a better assessment, but neither of them wanted to acknowledge that directly. “That’s when you said there were other ways,” Tony said. 

Another warm breeze blew through, soft on their faces. 

“You held out on me,” Tony said, pain breaking through his strained tone. “I asked, and you said the apples were just a myth, and then you asked me when—when I was sick,” Tony finished. 

Loki strained to breathe in with his tight chest. 

“You doubted me too,” Tony said. 

Loki recoiled at those words, all too aware of the truth in them. He wanted to reassure Tony with eloquent words instead, but he knew that wouldn’t get him anywhere right now. He blinked hard, eyes hopelessly searching the sky for supernatural aid. “You,” Loki said quietly. “Chose me over Pepper, and I would be a fool to dismiss the possibility that you could do the same to me.” 

“God damn it, Loki!” Tony yelled, standing up and startling Loki at the same time. He paced towards the door of the house and then stopped mid step, dragging his hands over his face and turning back around with a loud sigh. Then he was yelling again. “Don’t you get it? I made a choice!” Tony paced, running his hand over the back of his recliner. “I would’ve been happy with both of you, but neither of you were content with that. You’re both too ambitious and had too many exclusive plans to be content with that.” Tony had to keep moving or he was going to explode. He avoided pacing anywhere near Loki’s chair. “And yeah, maybe Pepper and I had come to the end of our course, but I care about her. It was hard. And I fucking chose you Loki, and chose you and your galaxy hopping road trip because I wanted to, and I love you, and now you’re questioning me again?” 

Tony wasn’t going to cry. He fucking wouldn’t, he was Tony fucking Stark, and he was the one with a right to be angry. “I knew when you offered that apple that you’d held back on me and you didn’t start this,” Tony said, flicking his hand back and forth between them, “with the same intentions you have now. Somewhere along the way you changed your mind. You had to, because you lied about the apple and kept it a secret, and I didn’t get angry with you for that—I don't think either of us started this with any idea of how far it would go, and I didn’t blame you for that. So you figured it out later, so what, so did I,” Tony said. He rubbed the palm of his hand into his eye, breathing in hard. “But I chose that apple and I think that says a lot about how much I trust you.” 

Tony stayed in one place, unable to move or look at Loki just yet. He didn’t think he could make it back into the house gracefully. Loki’s broken voice rose up just above the crackle of the fire pit. “I…your taking it did please me greatly,” Loki said. “I…forgot that as I—became distracted with other things.” 

Tony’s hand settled on the back of his chair. “I—” Loki began. “Considered greater things for us after your decision, and in my impatience I have been cruel.” He wasn’t making a bid for Tony’s sympathy. He spoke his honest assessment as the realization finally started clicking together. “I have given you little time to adjust to the challenges of your decision, and dismissed your loyalty to me in the midst of my concerns…” Loki’s head dropped down. “And for that I am…sincerely…remorseful.” 

The wobbly spinning in Tony’s head quieted down. He cracked a hard smile on his stiff face. “It almost sounds as if you’re sorry.” 

“Yes,” Loki said. “I am.” He rose from the chair, eyes downcast as he rubbed a finger beneath his nose. 

It was the first time that Tony had seen him sincerely ashamed, or guilty, or maybe a bit of both. Loki shifted his weight on his feet, silent. Tony bit his bottom lip. It was odd, to feel relieved that Loki was actually sorry about something for once. 

Tony didn’t want to keep having the same argument. He wasn’t angry about the past. He was angry about the way Loki was acting now. He needed Loki, and he wanted to go back to playing their games with Loki. He didn’t want things to stay like this. He wanted them to be better again and to just forget about this already, but he didn’t feel alright either. 

“I kinda need,” Tony said. He combed his fingers through his hair and looked away. “Something,” Tony said. “I don’t know.” He dropped that hand to the back of the chair to steady himself. “I’m always the one that’s making concessions between us and this whole argument is…” Tony let the words slip out. “Making me doubt that you want _me_. I mean, maybe your mom’s right. You don't lean on me. You didn't let me in on something huge. Right now it does feel like I’m just a phase.” Unable to stick around after what he'd admitted, Tony started for the door without casting a glance his way. 

“Tony,” Loki barked. The man’s hand settled on the door handle. “You,” he said, stalking towards Tony, “are not _just a phase_.” Tony gripped the door handle tight and stared down at the glass. There was no reflection, just a projected image. Loki loomed behind him, growling into his ear. “I have forsaken Asgard in my quest for you, and it was not a decision made lightly.” His hand settled over Tony’s on the door handle. “I gave you the apple at great personal risk, of my own volition.” His eyes burned with intensity. “Do not question my allegiance.” 

Tony yanked the door open. Loki’s hand was limp from surprise at the gesture, and without Tony to lean against he nearly toppled inside the room. Tony paced over to the kitchenette in a instant. “I don’t care about the decisions we’ve been over,” Tony said. “Yeah, I get it, you made choices, so did I. That’s kind of the point.” Nothing looked like a refrigerator as his eyes darted over surfaces. He pulled open an empty cabinet, looking for something that would burn. It granted his impulse, filling itself with an assortment of bottles. Tony picked a whiskey. He set it down on the counter. Behind him, the door rolled as Loki shut them in. 

“What do you wish?” Loki asked in the dark. Tony popped the decanter open. Loki moved to the center of the room. 

He found a glass and filled it. He’d spent enough time telling Loki what he wanted already. He’d told Loki that he wasn’t going to keep saying it, to beg. “I’m upset. You figure it out.” Tony grabbed the glass and walked to the door. His hand stilled on the handle. “And if you use that fucking egg instead of trying to convince me yourself, I’m gonna be pissed.” 

With that he rolled the door open, stepped out, and slammed it shut. 

Loki watched him pace to the fire pit’s edge and stare down at the flames for a few minutes before settling down onto one of the reclining chairs and lying back. Tony closed his eyes and set the drink beside him. 

Loki glanced over at the rumpled bed. Tony’s tablet was lying there. He picked it up. The screen flashed at him, revealing the text of a book. He scanned the first few lines. It was one he had recommended to Tony months ago. Loki dropped it back into the bottom drawer and sat down on the bed. 

He knew Tony was right, and he didn’t have the energy left to deny it. He didn’t even have the righteous anger to defend himself. 

Unwittingly, his mind leapt back to a time with Thor, centuries ago. He had taken a prank too far, and embarrassed Thor not just in front of their friends, but the woman Thor had been courting at the time and her family. Thor hadn’t laid it out for him like Tony. He’d just refused to speak to Loki for weeks. 

And it worked. It got under Loki’s stubborn skin that it worked, and he’d known it then too. He refused to admit that the prank had gotten out of hand. For the first couple of weeks he had been fine with the standoff. He’d only had to tolerate his mother and father calmly asserting that he should apologize. But Thor’s friends were avoiding him too, and he had no audience. By the third week he was standing outside of Thor’s door, calling into the crack between the hinges each day. “It was only a jest, surely she and her family have forgotten by now.” 

“Sif encouraged my partaking in the jest as well.” 

“Surely you need my assistance on our scholarly assignments? Put this grievance aside and I will be happy to oblige.” 

“Must you hold to your stubborn refusal? I meant no harm.”

“Thor, cease this.” 

For six weeks it dragged on. Thor saw right through him everywhere they went, and Loki had no one. In combat classes Thor had always been swift to step in and defend him, making it look coincidental, but now Loki was left to stumble into the mud or take a brunt hit alone. He broke into fits and used magic more than once, earning punishment. And this time he suffered it alone without Thor to charm the teachers or sneak him out. 

It only ended on the day that Loki waited outside of his room, sullenly seated against the wall for that magic moment when Thor would leave his room for breakfast. Thor stepped into the hall and froze in place when he saw Loki, then turned around and closed his door, keeping his back to Loki. 

Loki leapt from the floor. “Thor,” he said. “I do regret my actions.” He spoke quickly, like if he said it fast enough, it wasn’t admitting being wrong. “And I apologize.” 

Thor turned, a grin on his face. “I hear there is mutton today,” he said, clapping his buff arm around Loki’s shoulders. Just like that, Thor acted as if nothing had happened. He didn’t even point out that Loki’s prank had been motivated by jealousy. He let Loki come to that conclusion on his own, and Loki wisely dismissed himself from them the next time the woman appeared. It still vexed Loki that Thor’s actions had worked. 

Loki’s eyes fell on Tony outside. Naturally, he would wind up with someone as stubborn as Thor. Loki slouched forward. If Tony were easier he wouldn’t be satisfied, but being on the opposite end of Tony’s will was not a pleasant place to be. 

With chagrin, Loki acknowledged that Tony was trying just as hard as he was. Perhaps more. And he had known as much, known what he was asking when he offered Tony the apple. He remembered the satisfaction, the security he’d felt those first few weeks after Tony had taken it, before his plans set back in and that satisfaction started slipping away. 

The feeling in Loki’s chest sank down to the pit of his stomach. Would there ever be a time in his life that he was not a disappointment to others? He sat in that melancholy for a while, staring out the window at Tony. Firelight flickered across the man’s gloomy face as he weakly twirled the glass in his hands. Loki did not wish to spend weeks working his way back into Tony’s favor, and Tony wouldn’t stay silent like Thor would. Tony would keep working on the problem like a puzzle to be solved. Tony would talk. 

Loki got up. 

Tony heard the door roll to the side. He set his glass down but kept his eyes on the fire, fully expecting Loki to point out another of his shortcomings. Maybe they’d get back onto the kids argument. 

Loki stopped beside his chair. 

Suddenly he was close, straddling Tony and making the man catch his weight as he laid down against his chest. He tucked his chin into the crook of Tony’s neck and shut his eyes. Tony’s tipsy heart started beating a little faster. 

Loki squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to ground himself in Tony’s scent, to remind himself that he wanted Tony’s favor above all else. That Tony would not reject him for a weakness, and had not abandoned him yet. That this fight would end and better would come again. He breathed in. 

“Tony,” Loki said. One of his hands settled on Tony’s shoulder and held on. Tony’s muscles coiled tight beneath him. The words churned out slowly. “I am sorry,” he whispered. The admission made him feel more guilty, powerless. He pressed on. “And I—” his breath drifted over Tony’s ear as he breathed in. “Intend to spend all of tomorrow making it up to you.” 

Tony sucked in a breath. Loki’s chin bobbed against his neck as he shifted his arms.

“Will you accept that?” Loki asked. 

“Yes,” Tony said immediately. His arms settled over Loki’s back. Tony knew just how hard fought that apology was, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind about Loki’s sincerity. He swallowed hard. “Do you get why I was mad?” 

“Yes,” Loki answered. 

“Okay,” Tony said. 

Loki felt the tension drain out of Tony’s body. Loki pulled himself in tighter, listening to the fiery snap of a log behind them and the distant rustle of the wind through the grasses. He summoned the words up once more, to satisfy the guilty shame inside himself. “And for that I am sorry.” 

Tony’s head fell against his. He hugged Loki into him, head spinning a little from the drink, and let out a deep sigh. “Okay,” Tony said. “Okay.” 

They laid there for a few minutes, breeze tugging at them, as Tony’s head spun and Loki nursed the wounded pride of apologizing with the sensation of Tony pulling him in. Tony’s hands curled around his shoulder blades. “I think I need to go to bed.” 

Loki eased off of him, and linked an arm around him to steer towards the door. Tony crawled into the bed and under the covers. Loki sat down beside him. He fished the tablet out of the drawer and turned to the book Tony had been reading. Tony woke up several times, and each time that he did, Loki was there hunched over in the electronic light. He always drifted right back to sleep. Maybe everything wasn’t perfectly smoothed out, but he knew that they were going to be okay. 

Just once, he felt Loki reach over and brush a stray hair from his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last of the real ugliness for that fight-they can come back to some of its points and work them out in calmer, quieter moments. And poor Loki, Tony is forcing him to grow a little and taking away the villainy he hid behind. Apologizing, what's next?;)  
> As always, please let me know your thoughts!


	47. Prelude to a Good Day

“ _Your dream or mine?!_ ” 

Thumbs dug into his cheekbones, and as Tony felt fingers cup the back of his head he struggled and kicked in the sheets, lost and confused. His eyes swiveled in disorientation. He barely made out Loki’s face in the dim night. 

The whites of Loki’s eyes stood out, ghostly, just inches above Tony’s face. He asked again. “Your dream or mine?” 

Tony blinked and took in a deep breath. “What?” 

Tony reached up and grabbed the sides of Loki’s face as the god stared down into him like the answers could be divined from his sleepy eyes. Tony slid his fingers back into silky hair, anchoring Loki in place. “What?” Tony asked again. Loki let go of him, but Tony’s grip would not allow him to move. 

“Just a dream then,” Loki muttered. He grabbed Tony’s wrist. “I’m fine,” he said. 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said groggily, letting go. Tony rolled over onto his side as Loki slowly laid back down. Loki pulled the covers up over his shoulders. “Last time I woke up you were reading. What time is it?” 

“I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep,” Loki said. One hand drifted over the bed to check for the tablet, but it was lying on the floor. He rolled on his side away from Tony. The man did not take the hint. 

“Tell me,” Tony said. He asked quietly, but the demand in his tone was clear. Tony set a hand on Loki’s shoulder. “What happened?” 

The bed was silent for a few moments. There was a flicker of light across the sheets as a star shot overhead. “You left,” Loki said simply. 

Tony sighed. He scooted in and buried his nose in Loki’s neck, wrapping an arm over him. “That’s just a stress dream,” Tony said. “It’s not real. I’m not going to leave because we were having a fight.” Tony chuckled, shaking against Loki’s stiff back. “Besides,” Tony said, lifting his head up and speaking to the side of Loki’s somber face. “We fight a lot.” 

Loki didn’t say anything. Tony wanted to go back to sleep, but Loki was rigid and uncomfortable. Tony sighed again. Loki’s head pulled away from him, leaving Tony with a face full of hair. “Not like this,” Loki muttered. 

“Which brings us back to the stress dream,” Tony said. “Just your brain processing anxiety. I’m here, alright? Go back to sleep, I’m not…” Tony took a deep breath. “You didn’t walk in on one of my dreams, alright? I try not to barge in on yours, mostly because I still don’t know how that magic-y bullshit works, but if you have to know…” Tony wrinkled his nose, already mentally kicking himself for what he was about to say. “I was dreaming about our pets when you woke me up, alright?” 

Tony rolled away onto his side just as Loki leaned up, taking curious interest. “You were?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He buried his face in the pillow, hoping that Loki wouldn’t ask anything else. He wasn’t so lucky. Loki’s fingers kneaded into his side as the god curled into him, silently prodding him on. He draped himself around Tony like a blanket. “You’re not the only one that has stress dreams, alright?” Tony grumbled. “I kept dreaming I’d misplaced them or they got hurt in the lab or they’d run away.” Tony felt Loki press his smug face into his neck, his lips pulling back into a pleased grin. “Which is just my brain processing that they’re not here, not…I’m not worried about them. It’s just a dream, just like how you had a dream. Not a big deal, not something to get worked up over—” Loki’s cold nose sent a shiver down Tony’s spine. “I’m going back to sleep,” Tony announced, failing to ignore the unspoken contentment radiating off of Loki. Smug bastard. He was not concerned about those rams, if anything he was grateful…Loki hummed, hand settling over Tony’s chest. 

“You’re still spending tomorrow making stuff up to me,” Tony said huffily. 

“Of course,” Loki muttered, not sounding the least bit distraught by that. 

Tony forced himself back asleep and tried not to dream about demonic pets.

* * * 

Loki set another plate on the counter. The soft clatter rang across the room. Tony muttered and rolled over, but he didn’t seem to be awake yet. Loki knew that as soon as the scent of coffee hit the air that would be another story.

He set his hand on the cabinet door and concentrated very carefully on what he would like for breakfast. He’d imagined a half dozen of the things that Tony liked and set them out. Not because Tony hadn’t already demonstrated the ability to use the culinary wish granting cabinet, but because it seemed like the sort of thing that would work in his favor. 

He withdrew a generous plate of steaming meats and eggs, setting it down. Loki stood at the counter and ate, reconsidering how to best work his way into Tony’s good graces while he slid a fork out of his mouth. His gaze drifted over the man in bed. Tony’s face twitched in sleep, and he muttered something about Jarvis. 

The early morning light glinted on a thin golden barrette Loki had used to pin his hair back from his face. The runes on it were to attract good fortune. He plopped half of a hard boiled egg into his mouth. Appeasing Tony with sex was an obvious route, but one with limited effectiveness. He speared the other half of the egg onto his fork. He would make it a part of the plan, of course, but he needed something that Tony would remember. 

Something that would put away his own feelings of unease that had been crawling around in his head since the dream. 

It had been horribly vivid. Tony had listed all of Loki’s shortcomings before returning Midgard and leaving him to face the disappointment of his parents alone. He tried to wipe the face of that disgusted Tony from his mind. 

It had to be something he hadn’t done for Tony often, and it couldn’t be half-assed. Not because Tony wouldn’t let him get away with it. Tony would probably take another sorry and some makeup sex and be done with it, but Loki wouldn’t feel settled. That was the worst part. He truly was remorseful, and it vexed him. His own guilt would hold him to it if Tony didn’t. 

Tony was right. He was right more often than Loki liked to admit. All of the plans that he wanted to set into motion could wait a while longer. Tony needed time, and Loki owed him that much. Het pressed the tines of his fork into a slab of meat without appetite. Tony would stay. Tony had chosen to stay. For him. He let that thought settle into his chest, ignoring the further guilt it triggered, as he set about working on his plan. 

Tony woke up and rolled out of bed, startling Loki when he approached the counter. Tony grinned. Loki glanced up at him like is shoulders hadn’t just jumped up involuntarily. “Funny how the food I like can make an appearance when somebody’s feeling like it,” Tony said playfully. 

Loki’s lips pulled back into a frown. “The technology here is exceptional, and rather rare. I cannot cater to your whims in each realm.” 

Tony set his hands on his hips and looked at the spread with an exasperated sigh. “You still forgot the coffee.” 

With a curt eye roll, Loki turned around and opened the cabinet. He set a steaming mug down in front of Tony. The man glanced up at him with a grin. Loki followed his gaze upwards. 

Tony’s hand reached out towards him, and it was only when it settled in Loki’s hair that he understood what was going on. “That’s new,” Tony said, brushing his thumb over the engraved writing on the barrette. Loki’s hand went up to remove it, but Tony blocked that motion by catching his hand and taking it in one short arc towards the counter before letting go. He didn’t linger, didn’t fight for that little bit of extra contact he always wanted, reminding Loki that despite appearances, Tony was still a bit angry. “I like it,” Tony said. 

Tony helped himself to a sip of coffee, wrapping his hands around the mug. “For good luck, huh?” 

“And how would you kno—”

“I can read it,” Tony said. “Even if it’s jammed in the all speak, I can read runes. Been reading them for a while now.” 

Loki stared at Tony, slack lipped as the man shot him a cocky grin. The shirt he’d slept in was too tight, straining over his torso and revealing a v of skin down his scarred chest. The dark stubble along his cheeks disappeared behind the mug as Tony took another sip. “When did you, how did you—” Loki started. 

“When did I decide to start learning to read Asgardian?” Tony gave him a look that sank beneath his skin, self-congratulatory and proud all the same. “Around the time I decided that I’d be spending a lot of time with a particular one.” Loki adjusted the enchanted barrette as Tony reached over and helped himself to a cinnamon bun. It was a perfect replica of the ones he’d made for Loki once, when they were creating a childhood memory he’d wanted and never had. “I asked Thor to get me a couple books, and he gave me all of his kid books and an electronic learning program that I synced into Jarvis.” 

“I’ve never seen you practicing,” Loki said. “And I’ve never seen that program on the tablet—”

“It didn’t take me that long to learn,” Tony said, trying not to sound too amused. The surprised look on Loki’s face was priceless. “And that ring you were wearing the other night?” Loki’s mind flashed to the silver band he’d tried to disguise in a handful of ordinary rings. “Totally knew what that was for.” 

Loki turned a faint shade of pink as Tony barked out a laugh, spilling some of his coffee onto himself. Tony wiped his chin. Before Loki could get too upset he said, “I told you when we met, performance issues are very common—”

“Shove it,” Loki hissed, leaning away from the counter. 

Tony had a good laugh, and though Loki loathed to admit it, it was nice to hear that sound again even if it was at his expense. 

Tony crammed his mouth full of another cinnamon bun. Loki circled the counter and came over to his side. He leaned against the man, teasing his fingers into Tony’s ruffled hair as the man licked icing from his lips. “Clever,” Loki said.

“Don’t sound surprised,” Tony said. 

“I’m not,” Loki said. Tony snorted. 

“Yeah you were.” 

Loki’s lips slipped up to one side. His fingers massaged short circles in Tony’s hair. “I was pleasantly…charmed,” Loki said. “That you made the effort.” 

“Yeah?” 

Loki leaned down beside him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Yes,” said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of the next chapter early. I wanted to get some of it up here for valentine's day. I love each of you, thanks for letting me take the boys and the insanity of two fluffy rams on this ride. I wonder what Loki is going to get up to, Tony's already been the impressive one and he's only been awake for five minutes, hmm hmm...


	48. Plans or the Lack There of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter begins right where the previous one left off._

Loki paused as he pulled away from Tony’s side. He hadn’t been ready for Tony to wake up. He still didn’t have a plan. Tony grinned at him expectantly. 

Loki’s face reflexively pulled back into a pleasing smile. 

“Do you have other ideas, or does it mater how long I take in the bath?” Tony asked. Loki stilled. Was Tony asking because he expected Loki to say yes, or was it that Tony wanted him to say no? What sort of test was it? 

“However long you please,” Loki said, unable to read Tony’s face with certainty. The man grabbed his coffee from the counter. 

“Great,” Tony said. After a second thought, he grabbed another cinnamon roll and started for the bathroom. “You should wear that red shirt too,” Tony said as he opened the door. He shoved the cinnamon roll in his mouth without looking back. As the door clicked shut, Loki tried to place what shirt Tony was referring to. 

_Oh._ Of course. The pitifully simple one that was precisely Tony’s shade of Iron Man red, and looked like the sort of sludge slicked thing that Tony would wear repeatedly in his laboratory. Tony had bought it for him right after he’d pointed out as much to Tony. Loki glanced at the dresser. 

He could grant Tony’s wish, but the spite of not doing so also appealed. Then again, Tony had just charmed him by reading runes. 

With a particularly hissy sigh, he traded the Asgardian shirt he wore for that one. Loki glanced down at himself. The slender red shirt creased over his black leather trousers, and the sleeves hardly began to cover his biceps. It was not what he would have chosen. He sat down on the bed. 

He combed his fingers back through his hair and turned to look outside. A wind passed through the reeds on the soft yellow fields beyond. Something clattered in the bathroom. He heard Tony swear, and water rushing. 

Loki bit his bottom lip. He had to play this carefully. 

It couldn’t be something he’d done before. Gifts were the most obvious route, but Tony had to be expecting that. It was pointless, anyway. He had already spoiled Tony a month ago on his birthday, and Loki wasn’t prepared for giving a gift that was better so soon. 

It had to be something that he didn’t do for Tony often.

Something that Tony would enjoy, and not expect. 

The door cracked open. “How do I turn this thing off?” Tony demanded. He was soaking wet. Loki slowly stood from the bed and walked to the bath. He pressed his hand to a tile on the wall. 

“Press it while willing the water to stop,” he said, helping himself to an eyeful of Tony. The man caught him and chuckled. 

“Don’t even think about it,” Tony warned. “Out.” 

“As you wish,” Loki said theatrically, walking out with his head held high. He slumped back down on the bed. Tony had probably been trying to work it for the last ten minutes before he caved in and asked. He wondered how Tony had gotten it started in the first place. _Think_ , Loki told himself. He had to focus on the day at hand, not distract himself with Tony in the bath. He strained to think of something. Nothing came. 

When Tony finally came out, Loki watched him cross the room with a knot in his stomach. Tony ruffled a towel through his hair and slid open a dresser drawer. “So who’s in the house across there?” He asked. 

Loki’s placid face turned towards the place of inquiry. After a moment he answered. “I do not believe it is occupied today.” 

Tony slid on a pair of boxers. “Huh,” he said. He grabbed a gray shirt and threw it on over his head before yanking open another drawer and digging for a pair of jeans. He zipped them up as Loki remained silent on the bed. He couldn’t decide if the god was sullen or simply quiet. “So,” Tony said. “What’s the game plan today?” 

Loki swallowed. 

He stood up with grace and stepped forward. “Come with me,” Loki said. He rolled the outside door open. They slipped on their shoes. Tony followed him onto the patio like a duckling in a line. He’d missed that, the little moments of innate trust that Tony wordlessly demonstrated. Tony waited expectantly. “Let us go for a walk.” 

_Buy time. Stall. Excellent. Surely something will come along then._

Tony didn’t seem to find going for a walk odd. He didn’t even poke fun at it. That could only mean he was already anticipating something, Loki decided. “Mind the water,” Loki said, pointing to the shallow streams and pools reflecting a light sky as they crisscrossed the land. 

They walked side by side in silence for a few minutes, the warm wind tugging at them as the reeds bent beneath their footsteps and carved a narrow path. 

Loki was feverishly trying to come up with what he would do next when Tony spoke. “You, uh, you said something. The other day.” Loki raised an eyebrow. He laced his hands behind his back. Tony stared up at the sky instead, expression wry. “You don’t think it’s possible to engineer immortality, that’s why you—kept my secret, as you put it,” Tony said. He coughed into his hand. 

“Yes,” Loki said. Tony’s willful approach towards the matter surprised him. He licked his lips. “I have experienced this universe far longer than you,” he said. For once it wasn’t arrogant or prideful, but quiet. Solemn. “If I had conceived of any method that would have procured the same results without the risks the apple carried, I would have selected it. There is none. Idunn’s gift is all that I know.” Loki breathed in. “However,” he said. “I know that you will not rest until you have exhausted the possibility yourself, and…I won’t deny you that.” 

Tony’s eyebrows rose up in unspoken disbelief. 

Loki stopped walking. Tony mirrored him. 

Loki stared down at him, sunlight glaring on his sharp features. “Though,” he said, reaching out and brushing a hand along the bottom of Tony’s jaw, cradling his face. “I wish you would not.” He released Tony as the man looked away, eyes hard. “I wish you would accept it so that you would not suffer.” 

The wind worked away the water that lingered in Tony’s wet hair. “But you know I’m not gonna roll over and take it?” Tony checked. 

“Yes,” Loki confirmed. 

Loki’s lips twitched. He hid the smile as he began to walk again. “I can do little to tame your tenacity, it seems.” 

“Yeah?” Tony asked, sounding a bit amused. 

Loki glanced over at him. “Yes,” he said. He began pacing forward again. “The universe is full of brilliant minds, Tony. If any could conceive of another way, I believe they would have done so by now. It is not to your discredit.” Tony sighed. “And barring that, there is no guarantee that your friends would accept such an offer.” Loki walked slightly in front of Tony so that he wouldn’t see the man’s reaction. “And for that too, I do not wish to watch you suffer.” 

A particularly hard gale blew through the field as Loki stepped over a wet and sunken patch of land.

Tony’s voice followed him. “I didn't think you’d actually wear the shirt.”

“Nor I,” Loki said. 

“It looks good on you,” Tony said. 

“You just like me in your color.” 

“Then you should wear it more often,” Tony said. “With the gold clip it really looks like mine. How’s that clip working, by the way?” 

“Allow me to answer that at the end of the day,” Loki said. 

_Terribly_ , he wanted to say. 

Tony laughed, like Loki was messing with him. “So what’re we walking towards, exactly?” He scanned the horizon. Loki lurched in front of him, his ankle rolling to the side before he righted his footing and continued like nothing had happened. “A…what is this, exactly?” 

“A nature preserve,” Loki said, not sounding entirely certain. 

“And resort,” Tony said. “Interesting. But, uh, I haven’t seen a bird or a deer or something like that since we got here.” 

Maybe Tony was getting at something. The inane chatter rubbed Loki wrong, his mind jumping to pick apart the hidden meanings. “There are very few animal species present,” Loki said. “Hence some of its appeal.” Tony caught up with him. He clearly expected something from the walk and it was going to be a let down. “Tony,” Loki said, slipping his hand back around Tony’s waist to distract him. Tony didn’t melt into him. The action felt disconnected and unnatural. “Read this to me,” he said, holding a thin leather bracelet out on his free wrist for Tony to see. 

Tony stared at the band. The characters were worn down into the leather. He stepped out of Loki’s grasp and pulled Loki’s wrist up to his face to read instead, like he was inspecting an engine part. 

“Huh,” Tony said. 

The reeds rattled around them. He turned Loki’s wrist over, following the scrawled engraving. Loki’s hair blew back over his shoulders, tugging at the red shirt. Tony picked at a section on the band as he tried to make out a character. “It’s a poem,” Tony said. He let go of Loki’s wrist and started walking. “Isn’t that a little sentimental for you?” 

“Perhaps,” Loki agreed. “I have had it so long that I no longer remember the circumstances in which I received it.” 

“Where’re we going?” Tony asked. 

So much for that distraction. 

“Just a little further,” Loki said, command and reassurance singing across his tone. He spotted a relatively clear patch not far off and took the first idea that struck him. 

“Okay,” Tony said. Loki let him go a little bit further ahead in the wrong direction as he feverishly conjured a wool blanket onto the ground in the distance. His magic scrambled to find the wine he was summoning as Tony interrupted his thoughts. “Did you dream about anything else last night?” 

Loki blinked. “No,” he said as he felt his magic acquire its target. “Why?” 

Tony shrugged. “Just asking.” 

“I won’t disturb your rest again, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Loki said quickly, frustration cracking in the middle of his sentence as he tried summoning a glass into the distance. Now was not the time to be entertaining Tony’s complaints. 

“I wasn’t,” Tony said flatly. 

“Other way,” Loki said, changing tactics and walking towards the cleared patch. The cerulean blue of the blanket peeked out from the reeds. 

“How much further?” Tony asked, patience gone. Loki bit his lip. Tony spotted the blanket before he could answer. “Oh,” he said. He was ahead of Loki, and sat down before the god could get there. “I don’t think we’ve ever…picnicked before. That’s what this is, isn’t it?” 

Loki’s black shoes came to the edge of the blanket. His hands curled into fists reflexively before he let go. He could not ruin this. He would think of something, this stalling had to last just a little bit longer. Tony popped the wine cork and poured himself a glass, kicking his shoes to the end of the blanket. “Are you gonna sit down?” 

Loki slid his shoes off. He gave Tony some distance on the blanket. Tony hadn’t poured him a glass, so he set about doing it for himself. “This is nice,” Tony said. It was a dull pleasantry, and Loki was getting more restless with every minute that crawled by. Everything he thought of wasn’t good enough. This had to be right. This had to be better. “You didn’t bring me out here to read me poetry, did you? Because I’m going to tell you right now, I’m not up for reliving freshman lit.” 

Loki set his glass down. It tipped over and spilled in the grass, but he didn’t care. “Tony,” he said, inching in closer and setting one hand experimentally on Tony’s knee. The man allowed it to stay, but brought his glass closer to his chest, as if he was afraid that it would have the same fate as Loki’s. Loki slowly slid his fingers down Tony’s thigh. His verdant eyes were sincere and resolute, not playful, not like that hell-raising mischief that got Tony’s heart pounding. Loki’s lips flinched. “I wish for you to know that I sincerely am sorry,” he said. 

It was a perfect delivery.

“I know,” Tony said. He gulped down the rest of his glass and set it aside. Loki’s hand receded. “Act like it, and we can pretend the last couple of days never happened,” Tony offered. He couldn’t stand Loki’s stare anymore, so he focused on the house in the distance instead. Maybe if he let Loki off the hook, he’d get to cut right to the fun bits and then they could go back to the tower or the castle or whatever. Anything that didn’t involve Loki looking slightly wounded would be just fine. _But._ Tony thought. He also wanted to know just how far Loki would go to prove that he was sincere. He craved Loki’s focused attention, though he’d be damned if he admitted it, and this was too much of an opportunity to squander it. 

“It is not as though they did not happen,” Loki said, voice slipping back into something analytical and unyielding. He sat back and stared at Tony as the wind blew against his back. Tony glanced over at him and then back into the distance. 

“I know,” Tony said, brow furrowing. He rolled his shoulders and sat up taller. “Just,” he said, brushing his hand against his chin, “I don’t know. So,” he said brightly. “What’s up next?” There was the faintest flicker of a plea in his eye for Loki to just take him up on the distraction. 

Loki turned his head to the side, lips pulled back in a frown. Tony fixated on the gold clip in his hair. “I left the rams with Natasha,” Loki said. “For I believe her to be most capable, but even if she had refused, I would have been confident in any of your comrades.” His fingers curled into the rough blanket. “I would not have felt comfortable leaving them on Asgard.” 

“They would’ve been fine in the pen anywhere,” Tony said bluntly. “They hardly even eat. And why are we talking about them, anyway? Look, about the dream last night, it was just a stupid dream, not me getting at not trusting you—” Tony grabbed Loki’s shoulder, frustrated that the god would not look at him. Loki’s eyes met him wearily. “I don’t mind that you brought them there. If I didn’t like it, I would’ve just said so.” 

Loki nodded his head. 

“Which, uh, is there something else that you’re not telling me?” Tony asked, half anxious and half exasperated. 

“I would not make the same mistake twice,” Loki said seriously. Tony sighed. 

“Good, okay, uh—how about this,” Tony said. “Since it’s my day, we’re going to do what I want.” He scooted over and grabbed Loki’s arms, pulling them open. Loki moved his legs so that Tony could sit between them as he wanted, and let Tony lean his back into his chest. Tony wrapped Loki’s arms over his stomach. “It’s cold,” Tony said. “So you’re going to keep me warm.” 

Tony didn’t say that he could avoid Loki’s unsettlingly pensive stare this way, and Loki didn’t acknowledge that it wasn’t cold at all. They were silent for a few minutes. The breeze flipped up the edges of the blanket. 

“Loki,” Tony said. “Let’s get the crap-tastic family tell all over with.”

Loki’s body stiffened immediately. Tony held on tightly to the arms around his stomach. “Let’s just get it over with,” Tony said. “I don’t wanna keep—”

“It is not wise,” Loki warned behind him. 

“Idunn’s on our side, they can’t do shit, and your mom doesn’t really seem like someone that’d abandon the son she’s been missing,” Tony said. “And anyway, I want my Loki back.” The tension dropped out of Loki’s arms. Tony pressed on. “I don’t care if you send them a letter and are done with it that way, I don’t care what you do, whatever drops the weight off your shoulders.” 

Loki laughed weakly when he was certain that Tony had finished. “I am not certain that a letter would do me any favors,” he said stiffly. 

“I don’t think it would either,” Tony said. “But I don’t think I can put up with the next few years being like this between us. You've gotta take care of it.” 

“And if they do not approve, and we are forced to flee, or fight…would you still wish to have made that decision?” 

“Yeah,” Tony snapped. 

“Tony, I…I do not share their opinions.” Loki understood Tony’s anger, finally, but found it difficult to reason around what was so obvious to him. “Do not think that I do.” 

“I don’t,” Tony said. 

“Right. Well.” Loki squeezed Tony’s chest, breathing in the grounding scent of the surly man in his arms. He chose his words carefully. “You may find Asgard’s open displeasure far more insurmountable and grating than you imagine.” He nodded his head to the side. “I have been a severe disappointment to them, and when they have learned that I have destroyed the final hopes they had for my use through courtship, I cannot imagine that it will be easy for you or me. I cannot guarantee that there will ever be a time when their displeasure is not made known.” 

Tony dropped his head back until it was pressed against Loki again. “You know I’ll be with you either way, right?” 

Tony shifted his grip. 

“Yes,” Loki answered. Tony’s weight relaxed into him. Tony was quiet for a moment. 

“And you know I’m just here for the sex, right?” Tony asked.

The rest of Loki’s body finally caught up with his arms and relaxed. He adjusted Tony so that his chin could rest on the man’s head. “Flatterer,” he said. 

“And the world hopping, but that’s it,” Tony said. 

“Well if you must know,” Loki said, “I am only here for your sharp tongue.” 

“Really?” Tony asked. “Lokes, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” 

He was kidding, but the words gave Loki the idea all the same. He’d have to be careful about it. If he came on too strong, Tony would catch on, but if he did it just right, Tony’s ego would bask in it. A warmth pooled in Loki’s chest from pride for his own cunning. “Mmm, well that and your ass, but that is about all.” 

Tony laughed, but his whole body let go and fell into Loki. He wasn’t even aware of it. “Lucky you,” Tony said, playing along. 

“Indeed,” Loki muttered, nibbling on the side of Tony’s ear. “It is difficult for me to find one of worthy intellect and form. I suppose you’ll do.” 

Tony chuckled. After all the distress, it was nice to hear something good out of Loki’s mouth. He decided to push it just a little bit more. Just to see where it would lead. “Is that all?” 

Loki paused. Tony was almost making this too easy. “Hmmm,” Loki muttered. “I do enjoy you.” He fell back into the blanket, taking Tony down with him. Tony wriggled in his grip, grinning like he was on the edge of a challenge. “As you have said,” Loki began, “it is your day. What _do_ you want, Stark?” 

Tony’s gaze drifted over the clear sky. He stopped struggling as he took in the powdery blue. 

“I’d kind of like to take the suit out for a run,” Tony said. 

This, Loki had not expected. 

“My feet will stay firmly on the ground,” Loki said, letting go of Tony and moving to sit up. Tony stood. 

“I’m going to be moving too fast to carry you anyway,” Tony said. He smirked. Loki gave him a look before stilling with concentration, and a few moments later, Tony’s suit materialized beside them. Tony practically jumped inside. He left the faceplate open. “It’s a perfect day for it,” Tony said, staring longingly skyward. “Anywhere on this place that I shouldn’t fly to?” 

“Stay within the fields and you should be well,” Loki said. 

“Great,” Tony said. The faceplate snapped shut. He shot off into the sky. 

Loki laid back down and laced his fingers together over his stomach. As the red spark streaked over the blue sky, he lazily felt around the blanket for his abandoned glass. Finding it, he refilled it and helped himself to a generous portion.

He watched Tony do loops and somersaults before vanishing over the horizon line. Periodically, Tony would reappear, and it was clear by his flight pattern that he was enjoying himself. 

Loki twirled the glass in his hand. He despised that Tony was forcing his hand, but he couldn’t help but admire it as well. Tony was certainly right about one thing. It would do them no good to spend the next few years in this state of discontent, sidestepping the watch of Asgard and fearing it all the same. But more immediately, reassuring Tony right now was most important to him. He had no more desire for this discontent than Tony. 

He had no more desire for the present dysfunction between them. He was accustomed to Tony’s incessant touch and proximity, and now that Tony’s anger was creating a subtle wedge, Loki found himself mourning the loss of those clandestine calls for attention. 

Tony zipped by overhead. Loki watched him disappear and reappear for a long time, musing to himself until at last Tony touched down a few yards away. The faceplate lifted to a smiling face, brighter than Loki had seen in a long while. As the suit dismantled around Tony, he staggered towards Loki and dropped down onto the blanket with a loud sigh. “I needed that.” 

Loki combed his fingers through Tony’s hair as he took a sip from his glass. “I think I’m going to rework the mapping system, and the visuals need an upgrade. Something a little more sleek, like, what was that place we went? The one with the pollen you kept sneezing from?” Loki answered dryly. “That one. And the cooling system is too outdated, I think I’ll pirate some of the stuff from our last place, and maybe rework the weapon system. I’ve been letting the tactical defenses slip in favor of other things, but I think they need to be reconsidered.” 

“Am I to assume that your laboratory is our next destination?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I had Jarvis taking notes the whole flight, and…” His voice trailed off in Loki’s ear. The god chimed in occasionally with well placed hums and rephrased questions, but Tony didn’t seem to mind. It was more than Tony had talked to him all week. He wouldn’t cut Tony off. “Anyway, I’m starving, let’s go back to the presto-food thing in the house.” He said eventually. 

“If it means that I can have you all to myself,” Loki said. “I do not wish to find myself envious of your armor.” 

Tony got caught between rolling his eyes and grinning. He stood up and started walking towards the house. “Then you’d better hurry up,” Tony called back. 

Loki rose slowly, brushing tan wisps of curled plant fibers from his shirt as a strong wind blew around him. When he stepped away from the blanket, it and the Iron Man suit disappeared back into the pocket they’d come from. Tony was already several paces ahead. 

He considered whether this was Tony’s way of testing him. After a few moments, he decided that it didn’t matter. He easily caught up with Tony’s shorter stride. He needed to play this harder. “How am I to admire you when you deprive me of your company?” 

“I thought you were in it for my ass,” Tony said. “I wanted to give you a view.” 

“And your tongue,” Loki reminded him. 

Tony smiled to the side, eyes darting as he considered Loki’s behavior. “Is that all?” Tony dared him. 

“As clever as your tongue is,” Loki said, feeding him another compliment, “I may have considerations for other things. Your mind, for example. Brynjar is finely crafted, as is the armor you’re so fond of. Few could achieve such.” 

Tony’s suspicion danced with amusement. He tried to approach it from another angle to see just what Loki was getting at. “Oh,” he said with disappointment. “You just want me to make you stuff.” 

“No,” Loki quickly amended. He cursed himself for tripping on one of Tony’s well known sore spots. “I have no need of such innovation. Yet I can appreciate it, can I not?” 

“Sure,” Tony said. 

Loki couldn’t read the tone of his voice. He decided to be cautious and compensate for it instead. “None could satisfy me as you do, Stark. I assure you, I have no desire to take advantage of your talents for my own gain.” He narrowly avoided a puddle as they got closer to the house. Tony was just out of reach. “I take a great deal of pride from the knowledge that you are mine.” 

Tony paused. Was Loki kissing his ass? He couldn’t tell. _No_ , he decided with certainty, Loki was far too stubborn and prideful to ever do that. Tony grinned and let the pleasure from those words buoy him higher. “Back to the possessive thing, huh?” Tony kidded him. 

“You know what I intended to mean,” Loki said. His heart thudded too fast. This was not going in the direction that he had intended at all, and Tony didn’t seem to be taking any of his words seriously. This plan was failing. 

Tony couldn’t let any of his enjoyment show on his face. If he did, then he’d lose the chance to get Loki to keep talking, and it was not often that he talked like this. Not often enough for Tony’s taste. “Yeah. I do. And I also know,” Tony said, slipping into the chiding tone he’d been perfecting around Loki, “that you do that whole super formal speech thing when you’re anxious. So. Is there something hiding in the house?” Tony asked, stepping onto the stone patio first. He spun around to grin at Loki. The god did not look too thrilled, skin pale and eyes widened by a fraction. “Some surprise that you don’t want me to know about, or maybe it’s not that at all?” He backed towards the door, blocking it with his arm. His fingertips drummed along the doorway. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Rudolph?” 

Loki refrained from biting on his lip. He recalled grabbing Tony in that doorway last night vividly, and just how poorly it had gone. Now this plan, to stroke Tony’s ego with a few well laid compliments, was going awry. He took a few steps towards Tony. 

Tony leaned back into the door, grinning. Loki cupped his chin, the very image of power and confidence, holding fire in his hand. 

He had to do this right.

“All of the things I should very much like to do with you, if my penance is to your liking.” 

Tony frowned, thinking it over and avoiding eye contact. “Tony,” Loki said. His voice slipped down softer, his fingertips teasing Tony’s cheek as the man leaned against the door. “I would choose your happiness above all others. How may I please you?” 

Tony cracked. The quiet plea broke him, sending a pleased flush up his face. “You uh, you can start by letting me eat because I wasn’t lying about the whole starving thing,” Tony said, smiling down at the ground. _Loki softly asking how he could please him, Tony was going to fucking lose it_. “And you kind of do that a lot so you can calm down because I don’t need a grand gesture—” Tony fumbled for the door handle, recovering as best he could. “I mean we’re in a house in fucking who knows where,” Tony said, going straight for the lovely presto-food-thing that he was definitely going to steal. For science. “And I’ve seen like half the universe. I just kind of want time with you.” He grabbed out a pint of ice cream and shoved a spoonful in his face, like that would make what he’d just said totally chill. “You know, minus the pissing me off and yelling. If you want to please me you can do that thing I like,” he said with a mouthful, simultaneously realizing that he wasn’t really that mad anymore. He didn’t feel his anger, like he had this morning. “You know, with the—” he twirled the spoon around as he swallowed. 

Then he just shoved in another mouthful as Loki primly slid the door shut and took off his shoes. There might have been a wicked grin on his face that he was trying to hide, but Tony was trying not to look at him. 

“I may have something to add to that,” Loki suggested, when he was satisfied with watching Tony try to hide his fluster. That phrase had worked so much better than he’d ever hoped for. He’d have to use it again. 

Tony raised his eyebrows as he shoved another bite in. Something cold after the heat of the suit was heavenly, and if it fought with the heat on his face, it was just as well. 

“At your leisure,” Loki said, sitting down on the bed. 

Tony took quiet spoonfuls, studying Loki suspiciously as the god pretended to inspect his nails. Occasionally his eyes would flick towards Tony, take in the man’s obstinate stare, and then dart away indifferently back to his nails or random objects in the room. Finally he heard Tony drop the carton on the counter. 

“Normally you’re not sitting on the bed for this part,” Tony said, weakly joking. Loki gave him a dramatic eye roll as he slid to the floor. 

“Thank you. I’d completely forgotten how this works,” he said. 

Tony was about to shoot something mouthy back as he sat down on the bed, but then he got caught in the look Loki was giving him. Seated between his knees, Loki stared up at him from kneeling on the floor. He looked vulnerable and powerful at once, and Tony felt the intensity mirrored in himself. There was an overwhelming emotion passing between the stare, something that he couldn’t really name. He knew Loki, and trusted him, that he was certain of. There were a million things he was certain of, but first and foremost was Loki, and the moment was striking that into him hard. “I’m not…” Tony said. His face flinched. “I’m not mad anymore. And you don’t have to do this. I don’t want you to because you think you owe me or because things have been shitty.” 

“I want to,” Loki said. He sat up and leaned his elbows on Tony’s knees, resting his chin in his hands. A mischievous smirk curled up onto his lips, and suddenly it was the Loki that Tony had missed again. “With one caveat,” he amended. 

“Oh?” 

Loki leaned in and grabbed Tony’s hands, slipping their fingers in together and slowly pulling Tony’s hands forward until they were beside his head. Tony’s face was flooded with doubt, eyes questioning, his lips on the edge of a question he trusted Loki to answer for him. A shimmer of gold flickered, and in the next moment Loki was guiding Tony’s hands onto the horns of his helmet. Tony stared, wide eyed, as Loki’s long fingers slipped from his and left him with just the horns. 

A hard smile tilted Loki’s mouth, his eyes challenging Tony from the helmet frame as the man scrambled to catch up. When Tony did, he was too surprised to laugh. “You know I’m never going to be able to look at you in this thing and take it seriously again, right?” 

“As if you did before?” 

“True,” Tony said, gasping as Loki pulled his jeans open. He moved to make it easier, and Loki wasn’t wasting any time. “This doesn’t feel like your usual M.O.,” Tony said. He needed to talk, or he was going to think about how much power Loki had just placed in his hands and how difficult for Loki that was, and then what that meant… “I’d think I’d be the one wearing it, or are you just—” He gasped, face flushing as he felt Loki’s hot mouth, “—not willing to sha—are?” 

There was a soft pop and then Loki was giving him as much of a skeptical look as the proximity would allow. Tony wasn’t holding on that tight, and if Loki rocked his head to the side, he was willing to bet that Tony would scramble to catch back on. “I will certainly be allowing you the opportunity to try it on,” Loki said, smirking. There was the faintest hint of affection in it, and Tony smiled dumbly. 

“Okay.” Tony’s grip clenched around the horns as Loki slid forward down the aching length on him, and then his brain was short circuiting. “I mean,” he sucked in a breath. “It’s—”

Loki pulled away for a moment, knocking Tony’s limp hands lose. “Do be silent,” he advised, fighting the prideful grin on the corner of his mouth. He grabbed Tony’s hands and placed them back on the horns. 

Loki wouldn’t tell him that the fantasy had never included _him_ in his helmet, just Tony, and that this was a last minute decision. “You kno-ow—tha—” Tony groaned, and finally caught onto using the horns for better purposes. His hand slid on metal as sweat tricked his grip. Tony squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah, shutting up now,” he muttered in one breath. He forced his eyes back open. He was not going to miss the sight of his hands on Loki’s golden horns, guiding Loki’s blissed face by his whims, and those eyes that occasionally flickered open with something molten and consuming that struck Tony in his core. 

When Tony came, he slumped forward, panting as his shaky hands slipped from the helmet. Loki seemed utterly pleased with himself, but he didn’t give Tony time to think about it before his lips were at Tony’s neck and he was pressing Tony’s limp body to the bed. “You cannot imagine how you’ve pleased me,” Loki muttered into his neck. His lips trailed down to the hollow of Tony’s throat. 

Tony's skin was as hot and flushed as a flame. “This beats whatever you had planned,” Tony gasped out. This was what he’d wanted, Loki focused on him, not whatever elaborate plan of Loki’s that he was convinced he’d avoided. Loki’s lips paused for a split second. Tony felt teeth graze his skin. “And I—fu-uck. Forget it,” he managed. 

Loki’s hand pressed into the groove of his collarbone. “Tell me.” 

Tony’s eyes had fallen shut. He didn’t look up, pressed between the bed and Loki. “I don’t say it often,” he murmured. “But I should.” He flinched as Loki shifted on the bed, could practically feel the stare burrowing into him. He thought that Loki needed to hear it, so that he wouldn’t forget, so that he’d know it was one thing that wouldn’t change. He slid his fingers back into Loki’s long hair, tangling them in the raven strands. “I love you,” he muttered. He squeezed his eyes shut, meaning what he said but not wanting to seem sentimental or sappy all the same. 

It had been an awful few days, and he needed to say it.

Loki nosed along his ear until his lips were perched precariously on the soft shell. His voice came simply, without pretense. “And I love you.” Tony let out a breath at that reassurance. 

Tony was quiet, and then he felt Loki chuckle. “If I’d known how profoundly this helmet would move you—”

“It’s not that,” Tony said, lightly flicking Loki with his hand. It stilled, and then his thumb rubbed a slow circle. “I just wanted to say it. Don’t be a—” Before he could complain, Loki’s lips were at his mouth. Tony let him in immediately. He could taste himself on Loki’s slow, savoring tongue. Loki pulled away, pressing his forehead against Tony’s and cradling the man’s head between his hands. 

“Tony,” he said softly. He let out a short sigh and then his lips were locked on Tony’s again. It was slow and deep, and so much better at conveying the things that words failed between them. Tony got lost in it until he felt his aching cock stir again. Tony tugged at the red shirt incessantly. Loki peeled it away slowly and tossed it aside, leaving the helmet perfectly in place. He pinned Tony down with an impish grin as the man returned a devil may care one.

Tony’s hand fumbled for a horn. “You’ll get your turn,” Loki promised him. 

Many, in fact, before the evening was over. That night, when they finally drifted off together in a tangle of limbs, things settled. It was the calm of a storm that had passed. Loki tucked his chin down over Tony’s collar bone as the man’s exhausted hand slid down his warm back and settled over his tailbone. The other tucked across his shoulders and held, as if Tony was keeping him from floating away. Tony was well beyond speaking as he drifted off. 

Loki listened to the heart beating in Tony’s chest. Despite Tony’s constant proximity, this was the closest that Loki had actually felt to him in weeks. Tony was becoming real again, not clouded by anxiety and stress, and the realization was a relief. He closed his heavy eyes. He had his Tony again, the one that made his chest feel like it would rupture if he thought about it too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to the helmet thing Tony and Loki have been alluding to in earlier chapters. It seems like such an obvious misuse for those horns, I'm a little surprised it isn't a cardinal frost iron trope.


	49. Cards and Stars

“You’re cheating.” 

It didn’t matter which one said it, because either way it was true. They were sitting less than a foot apart from each other, hunched over the cards in their hands and bickering over the small pile between them. At some point in the day, the white comforter from the bed had ended up completely on the floor. They sat on top of it now, fully dressed. The lights from inside the house dimmed out some of the starlight from outside. 

Tony tossed another card down. “There,” he said triumphantly. 

Loki flicked another card into the pile, smirking. 

“That’s statistically impossible, all four of those have been played already,” Tony complained. It was a weak complaint—he knew that he was cheating just as much as Loki was. 

Loki cast an imperial stare down at the pile. “Or you simply forgot what has been played in the current hand? You have retrieved the pile so many times, I hardly think that you can keep track of what is and is not within it.” He fought himself not to grin. He knew Tony was slipping cards into his waistband, trying to cheat his way down to zero. Loki couldn’t help it if Tony was less talented at changing the card faces than he. 

Tony glared at him, but didn’t challenge him outright. Instead he tossed another card down. 

“Yours dear,” Loki said, patting the pile of cards before shoving it towards Tony. 

“Shut up,” Tony grumbled. He jammed the pile of cards in with his current hand. Loki carelessly flicked a card onto the floor. “You’re cheating,” Tony said. 

Loki reached behind himself and grabbed a small champagne flute that he brought to his lips. He set it back down. “That is the first card, how might I be cheating?” 

“I don’t know,” Tony said, raising his eyebrows with a tight smile. “Maybe you should tell me?” 

“Play a card,” Loki ordered. 

Tony threw one down. He’d slipped three down his pants when Loki’s attention had been on his glass. “Ha!” 

Loki threw a better card down without so much as a smirk. Tony reached over and took Loki’s glass. He downed half of it and threw another card onto the pile. Loki grabbed his glass back. He finished it and dropped the empty glass onto the comforter. The next card he played lost. 

Tony watched closely as Loki took the pile. He was convinced that Loki was morphing the card faces into the highest suits. Tony tossed down a card and waited, eyes trained on Loki’s fingers as the god carelessly flicked another one down. An ace.

Tony lunged at him, grabbing the cards from Loki’s hands as he pinned him on the floor. “I knew it!” Tony declared as the cards spilled across the comforter. They were nothing but duplicates of the highest suites. Loki’s laugh rang out. 

“I could say the same for you,” he said, reaching down into Tony’s waistband. Tony laughed, writhing and almost ticklish as Loki dug in and fished out the loose cards. 

“Hey!” Tony chided him. “I just dropped those.” Loki stared up at him, black hair tangled around his smug face. He let his hand fall open beside his head. Cards tumbled onto the comforter. 

“You accidentally dropped all of these?” Loki asked. 

“Yeah,” Tony said, completely unaware that his face had flushed at being caught. “I didn’t even know.” 

“You’re a terrible liar,” Loki said. 

“So are you,” Tony answered. He sat up, knocking a card free from his shirt. It fell onto Loki’s chest. The god snatched it up, examining it pointedly between two fingers. Tony ignored that and crawled over to the uncorked champagne bottle. He stole Loki’s glass and filled it. 

Loki sat up slowly. He stretched his arms and when Tony’s own glass was too far out of reach, he simply leaned over and took back the one that Tony was in the process of drinking. “Thank you love,” he said, sipping it. 

“Hey!” Tony squawked. “Quit taking my stuff!” 

“It was mine to begin with,” Loki pointed out. 

As Tony’s hand came towards him, he downed the rest of it, right before Tony pulled it away by the stem. “You’ll break it,” Loki said. 

“I don’t care. It’s yours,” Tony said. He filled it up and started drinking it, watching Loki, waiting for the moment that Loki would try to pull one over on him. Loki stared at him for a moment before simply sinking back down onto the comforter. 

Tony drank it suspiciously for a few seconds, until he was mildly comfortable with the idea that Loki would not try to reclaim it. Tony licked his lips. That morning they’d agreed to come up with a plan for Asgard after their time at the resort was up, and not a minute sooner. The tension had deflated directly after that. 

Tony crawled over a few cards as he carefully made his way back to Loki’s side. The god laid limply, but they both knew he was as tightly coiled as a snake, waiting for the right moment to strike. Tony inched just a little bit closer, until his knee brushed Loki’s side. 

He took a sip. 

Lightning fast, Loki’s hand whipped up and snatched the glass. He sat up and downed it as Tony lunged at him for it, then dropped it and hooked his arm around behind Tony’s back in the same motion. Tony laughed as he was pinned down. “I got you first,” Tony said. “Doesn’t count.” 

“Who says we’re keeping score?” Loki asked. His breath was warm and sweet with alcohol. 

“You cheat anyway,” Tony said. Loki pulled Tony back up straight with him, and sat slightly slumped against the man. The swift motion made him dizzy. His forehead fell against Tony’s as he spoke. 

“Sore loser,” Loki said. 

“I didn’t lose because I didn’t cheat,” Tony said. He raked his fingers back through Loki’s long hair and held him there as he spoke. A tiny grin pulled at Loki’s lips as he listened to Tony. “And you cheated at like, five games.” 

Loki laughed. “While you stupidly dropped cards down your pants?” 

Tony loved the way Loki felt laughing between his hands and against his forehead. The shuddering sound made him want to curl in around Loki like a purring cat. “Okay, so I cheated at one thing,” Tony said. 

“I knew that you rigged the deck when we played poker,” Loki said. 

“Okay, all of them,” Tony said, saving them the trouble of going through pointing out every way that he’d cheated that evening. “Even darts. I damaged the fin on yours so they’d fly off center.” Loki’s gaze slid towards the dart that was still stuck in a chair leg. 

“A shame you still lost,” he said. 

Tony massaged his fingers against Loki’s scalp. When was the last time this had happened? “We both know why,” he said. Loki hummed in agreement. Tony let himself press his forehead into Loki’s just a little bit longer. 

He released Loki and propped his arms up behind himself instead. “So,” Tony said. “You said you were going to show me that constellation thing.” 

Loki sat back and rubbed his cheeks. They were slightly flushed. “If you won,” Loki corrected him. Tony nodded his head to the side, grinning. The grin said it all. “Lights,” Loki said. The room dimmed, leaving nothing but the sky above shining in through the glass roof. Tony laid down and gently grabbed at Loki. The god got down and set his head on the man’s chest as he stared skyward. He stretched his legs over the comforter. His arm lifted towards the cosmos. 

He connected a line between two stars. “That’s the star of the system with the singing pool and the library I took you to, remember? The second one is a star of a rather unpleasant empire.” 

Tony pointed at something else. “What’s that?” 

“A planet,” Loki answered. His arm slid across the skyline in an arc. “This is the wing of the beast,” Loki said. 

“Oh?” Tony asked. “I like the sound of that.” 

Loki chuckled. “You would not like the sound of it, were you to meet.” 

“Aww, come on. It’s not real,” Tony said. 

“I most certainly assure you that it was,” Loki said. “Thor challenged it when we were young, and our escape was…narrow.” 

“Where’s it now?” Tony asked, sliding a hand into Loki’s hair and playing with it. Loki grinned. It felt good with the warm flush crawling through his body and the soft comforter around them. He hardly noticed the card poking into his side. 

“I presume that it still lives,” Loki said. “Thor and I had no desire for a rematch.” 

Tony tried to picture that. “Really? That’s hard to believe.” 

“It happened more often than either of us will admit,” Loki told him. Tony’s chest bobbed beneath his head as the man softly laughed. His fingers stroked a little slower. Loki’s arm returned skyward. “Those stars comprise its chest, and those its tail. The beast itself lives in the system on the horn of the tail.” Loki tapped his finger against the furthest most star. 

“When’re we going?” Tony asked. 

Loki grinned. “Never, Stark.” 

“You’re no fun,” Tony teased him. The fingers in his hair ruffled for a second, before tangling in the strands and righting themselves. “What about those over there?” 

Loki went on to tell him all of the constellations in the sky, and the stories behind them. Tony’s warm voice drifted back to him, comfortable but alert. They stayed there in the dark, lightly bantering back and forth as Loki’s arm pointed like a compass needle. Tony loved the easy drawl of Loki’s words as he narrated the entirety of the sky. It was the kind of voice that he could curl up in and feel safe, and so much better than the angry, brittle one that he’d been hearing all week. Tony didn’t want him to stop. 

By the time Loki had gone over each one, he was completely sober. Tony prodded him with another question. He rolled over onto his stomach, losing Tony’s hand in the motion. He knew that Tony wasn’t tired. Loki set his chin on Tony’s chest instead. He was tired, but he would stay awake for Tony. 

He curled his hand over Tony’s shoulder. His fingers drummed. “Is there anywhere you don’t know about?” Tony asked. 

“Many,” Loki answered. He shut his eyes. 

Tony snuck his hand back into Loki’s hair. “I had a VIP pass to a lot of places,” Tony said. “And I still can’t imagine just knowing the constellations of multiple galaxies for fun.” Loki felt sleep beckoning to him as he listened to Tony breathing, trying to take all of that in. “It must’ve been…you must get bored going back to all of the same places with me.” 

“Not at all,” Loki answered. His voice was soft and distant. “I see it differently when I am with you.” He set his head down flat against Tony’s chest, trying to make himself more comfortable. Tony’s hand in his hair had to adjust. “It’s new again.” 

Tony glanced down at Loki but couldn’t see anything but a tangle of raven hair. Loki’s guard was down, he was sleepy. He wasn’t saying this for Tony’s benefit. Tony let that sink in for a moment. “Thank you,” he said. 

“For what?” Loki mumbled, voice half-interested. 

“For taking a boring mortal with you,” Tony said. 

He laughed, but Loki’s head just rocked with him. “The pleasure’s mine,” Loki mumbled. Tony’s scent was dragging him under, luring him to sleep. It didn’t help that Tony tugged the comforter in towards them just then, covering them with the blanket and spare cards. He heard the glass roll across the floor as he started to drift again. 

“God,” Tony muttered. 

“Hmm?” Loki asked, unconsciously moving Tony to be a little more how he wanted him. 

“Nothing,” Tony said. He knew that Loki was drifting off. He fell silent then, knowing that Loki would keep answering him if he didn’t. He was content to lay there and play with Loki’s hair. After a while he heard Loki’s breathing slow as his muscles relaxed. He wished that it were easier to catch Loki like this more often. 

Tony’s vision drifted up to the stars. He reconnected the dots the way that Loki had shown him, thinking about the god tucked in his arms for a long time until he too drifted off to sleep.


	50. A Wedding

Hazy yellow sunlight poked into the glass house. Tony groaned and covered his eyes, rolling over to go back into the sheets before blindly smacking into Loki’s back. An unhappy groan came from the god. 

Loki drew in a long breath. “We have to get up,” he muttered. 

“No,” Tony whispered, latching onto him. 

Loki didn’t fight back. He just worked his way around until he was holding Tony and pressing his nose into the crook of Tony’s neck. “We do,” he murmured back. 

“Or what?” Tony dared, luxuriating in the feel of warm sheets and skin. There was no way in hell that he was moving. 

“Or we’ll be forcibly evicted,” Loki groaned. He sucked in one last breath against Tony, trying to draw out the moment as long as possible. 

Loki reluctantly moved to get up. “Come,” he said, rubbing a hand against his forehead. He glared out the windows. “I do believe we only have a few minutes as it is.” 

Tony suddenly scrambled to get up. He ran over to the box in the corner. “We’re taking this,” Tony said. “Put it with the rest of the stuff.” 

Loki stared at Tony, one hand in his hair, body slack as he sat. A slow smile tugged at his mouth. “No,” he said. 

“Wha-why not?” Tony demanded. 

Stretching his long arms above his head, Loki answered, “I am uninterested in paying the price, or the consequences.” 

“Oh, come on,” Tony said. “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Loki raised an eyebrow tauntingly. “I love you but you don’t measure up to french toast,” Tony said. Loki chucked a pillow at him. 

“Rude!” Tony declared. Loki let him try to detach the box from the wall as he packed their things with a few tired old spells. Tony was still struggling with the box when Loki walked over and took his hand. 

“Awwww,” Tony moaned in complaint.

The tower was exactly as Loki remembered it. 

Tony brightened at seeing his lab. “You’ve already got the suit out,” Tony said approvingly. Loki may have planned that as a distraction from the presto food box, as Tony called it. Yet instead of running right to the suit, Tony surprised him. “Look at you!” Tony exclaimed, walking over to the ram’s enclosure. “Haven’t murdered anything, have you?” He asked. Andor barked up at him, jumping up and down with his fluffy, white, blood-free fur. “Great, because I’d hate the lawyer fees on that case.” Tony reached in and tapped Brynjar on his helmet. 

Loki strolled up to the enclosure, feeling the grin on his face before he was aware that he’d been smiling. “They’re cute little bastards,” Tony said. He pulled his hand back as Andor moved to bite him. A second later he felt Loki press a kiss to the crown of his head. 

Loki’s hand drifted down the back of his neck, feeling the little ridges in Tony’s spine. “I wonder what Natasha’s going to report,” Tony said. 

The lab door slammed open. Loki’s hand pulled away as a sour expression crossed his face. Natasha walked in. “What’s the damage?” Tony asked. 

“None,” Natasha said. She gave Tony an odd look, like there was something she wasn’t sharing in front of Loki. To the god, she gave a diplomatic grin. “Pay up,” she said. Loki looked at her, then turned back to the rams. He picked each one up and inspected it, turning it over while the ram complained. Eventually, he handed Natasha her prize. She disappeared with a triumphant smirk on her face. 

“It’s been too long,” Tony said, starting for the suit. Loki watched Tony head for the armor, mouth turned down with a thwarted frown, before turning his attention onto the rams instead. He stroked his fingers through their fur as he listened to Tony chatter away with Jarvis.

Later that week, Tony asked Natasha what that look had been about. It turned out that Natasha had made the mistake of letting the rams loose on her floor. She’d discovered that they were rather fond of stealing hard alcohol, and equally intolerant. They’d fallen asleep before she’d found their theft. Tony laughed and laughed. “They were fine,” Natasha insisted.

“You still got paid,” Tony pointed out. “I think you did okay.”

* * * 

Loki picked out a chair for Rhodey’s wedding gift. A chair. Okay, a leather armchair that looked sinfully comfortable and probably like the sort of thing that would impress anyone’s grandparents, but it was still a chair. Tony whined about it until Loki asserted that while Rhodey enjoyed getting into trouble just as much as Tony did, sending him a box of firecrackers and some liquor was not the appropriate gesture to make. Tony knew, deep down, when he saw the chair that somehow Loki was right. Rhodey was going to love it, and Tony wasn’t even sure why, just that he was and Loki was right.

* * * 

“Are you sure this is gonna work? Because I really don’t want Shield on my ass at Rhodey’s wedding.” Tony fidgeted with a cufflink. “It won’t look good if his best man gets hauled out by agents.”

“None will think you any other but an in-law or relative of his,” Loki said. His own glamor wasn’t much of a change from his ordinary appearance, but Tony was completely unrecognizable. “And if they find themselves pondering upon the matter, they will mysteriously forget.” Loki tugged at his shirt collar. “Tony Stark will not make an appearance.” 

Loki stepped forward and grabbed the slender ribbons around Tony’s neck. “Though I wish I could give you the honor,” Loki said, staring at his hands as he deftly tied the bow. “It is not a desirable occasion for a disguise.” 

Tony’s throat bobbed as he spoke. “I’m here, that’s what matters,” he said casually. He tugged at his shirt sleeves as Loki’s fingers smoothed the bow tie. His emerald eyes slid towards Tony’s face carefully. Whatever he was about to say he dropped after silent contemplation. Tony was too busy staring at the door to notice. Loki’s hands slipped away. “Show time,” Tony said, snapping out of his thoughts. He glanced at Loki and broke into a grin. “Be careful with the big guy,” he said. He reached out and clapped Loki on the arm. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “As if I would ruin your dear friend’s day,” he said. “Thor and I aren’t all air and fire, you know.” Tony gave him an odd look as he started for the door. 

“O-kay,” Tony said. 

 

Fifteen minutes later, Loki was seated in a pew beside Thor. He sat with his arms folded over themselves, mouth pouted disdainfully as his crossed leg twitched. Thor was largely ignoring him in favor of Darcy’s bubbly chatter. Loki found himself lost in contemplation as he stared at Tony. The man was even more attractive than usual today, and it had nothing to do with the clothes he wore, or the glamor that Loki saw through anyway. It was something else. 

He found himself musing over what Tony’s life would have been had Tony stayed. What ceremonies and milestones Tony wasn’t a part of, and all the things that Tony must’ve thought about but never said. He would ask Tony to tell him. Tony should tell him. The soft babble of the cathedral stopped suddenly as a few notes of music began to play. 

Everything was a blur after that. Loki didn’t even catch Tony until later in the evening. He spent a far greater portion of the event with Thor than he would have expected, and most of that intermingled with their Midgardian acquaintances. Loki pounced on the first quiet moment they got. He stood with Thor, leaning against a low wall in the reception room. Speaking over the brim of his champagne glass he told Thor without any lead in, “we are telling mother and the All-father in a few weeks.” 

Thor choked on his drink. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and stayed silent as he scanned the crowd. Loki picked at the brim of his glass, watching champagne bubbles soar to the surface. Thor cleared his throat. “I am coming with,” he said. 

Loki glanced over at him. “Idunn has granted her blessing,” he said, eyes attentively locked on Thor as he twirled his glass around. 

“I assumed you had some cunning on your side if you would go before them,” Thor said dismissively. He downed what was left of his glass and set it on an empty table. “You are not one to rush into things.” Loki drummed his fingers along the stem of his glass. His posture was pinched, no matter what he pretended, and Thor knew he was far more petrified than he let on. “I still do not think it wise.” 

“Nor I,” Loki answered. 

Thor spotted Tony out on the dance floor just then and grinned. “Perhaps it is that you are answering to someone else’s confidence?” 

“Petulance,” Loki corrected him. 

Thor laughed. “He is good for you,” he said lightheartedly. It sounded better than he felt. Loki’s announcement made him deeply uneasy. The party felt like it was happening somewhere else. Loki took another sip from his glass. “Her blessing will not spare you from their ire,” Thor said. He looked at Loki squarely. His brother’s shoulders were hunched forward as he stared morosely at the champagne in his glass. “But it will save you from the punishment of that theft, and for that I am grateful.” 

“As am I,” Loki said quietly. He took the drink and tossed his head back as he downed it, then combed his fingers back through his thick black hair and frowned, setting the glass down. “I trust your mortal affair will not be so arduous,” he said somewhat kindly. 

Thor leaned off the wall. “It ended, actually,” he said calmly. He adjusted his tie, eyes set on the dance floor. “You will tell me of the time and place,” Thor said. “Prior to your arrival on Asgard.” 

Loki tapped his nail against the glass. “Of course,” he said. Thor vanished onto the dance floor, leaving him alone. As if on cue, Tony appeared. He hooked his arm around Loki’s and tugged. 

“Come on,” Tony chided him. “You’re at a party, you can’t sulk in a corner. Let’s go.” They smacked into a couple of chairs as Tony lead him away. Tony’s arm slipped around behind his back the moment they were on the open floor. After a few minutes of dancing, he’d practically forgotten the conversation with Thor. Tony’s was his to hold and touch all that he pleased as they spun around the floor, tossing playful jabs at each other about who was the better dancer.

* * * 

Tony helped Rhodey and his bride into their limo as they left that night. Rhodey grabbed his shoulder before he slipped into the limo, acting as if he was just catching his balance. “You know, I’ve never been completely sold on the idea of you and him. You gave up a lot,” he spoke lowly into Tony’s ear. “But now I think I get it.” He clapped Tony’s shoulder and swung down into the seat. “And you’re better looking as my cousin,” he said, cracking a grin.

Tony’s mouth dropped open in mock offense, but he patted Rhodey’s shoulder. “At the next family reunion we’re going to have a vote on who’s better looking,” Tony said. “I’ll be the family favorite.” 

Rhodey started to laugh. “Don’t kid yourself,” he said. 

Tony grabbed his hand in what wasn’t quite a handshake, seeking out those last moments of contact like he wasn’t sure he’d be seeing Rhodey again. Rhodey squeezed back before letting go and giving Tony an easy grin. “Don’t forget to come back and visit,” he told Tony. 

“I won’t,” Tony said. Loki appeared in the crowd behind him. Rhodey spotted him over Tony’s shoulder and nodded. 

“Next time,” Rhodey said. He reached for the door handle. 

“Next time,” Tony echoed as the door shut. Loki slipped his hand in Tony’s without a word. He tugged Tony back into the crowd before the man could think about it too much. Tony leaned against his side as they walked. The air was cool, and the pavement wet. The party guests were starting to thin out and leave. “I’d be up for poofing back to our bed,” Tony said. The party vanished instantly.

* * * 

Tony was just beginning to drift off when Loki spoke. His voice came from the far end of the bed, and Tony realized as he rolled over that he must have fallen asleep at least once already. He wondered how long it had been since they got back from the wedding. “What?” Tony muttered, realizing that he hadn’t listened to what Loki had just asked.

Loki spoke towards the wall, his back turned to Tony. “You won’t regret it?” He asked. 

“Regret what?” Tony grumbled, kicking the sheets tangled over his legs and closing his eyes. 

Loki’s level voice drifted over from the edge of the bed. “That your comrades would not know—our children,” Loki finished quietly, quickly. 

Tony let out a loud moan. He dropped his hands against his face. “Seriously, Lo, you have to bring this up now?” He felt the mattress jostle as Loki rolled over onto his elbow to give Tony a pointed, assessing stare. Tony rolled away and tugged the blankets up to his shoulders. “I just watched Rhodey get hitched, I don’t want to talk about this. Don’t ruin a good evening.” He jumped when he felt Loki’s hand at his arm, suddenly closer. 

“I merely considered it,” Loki said softly. His manner shifted into something brittle and sharp not a second later. “Forget it,” he said, retreating to the far side of the bed. 

Tony was awake a while longer, staring down at the floor until he drifted off. 

The next morning, Loki was standing at the stove when he suddenly found himself captured by Tony’s arms at his waist and a cold nose pressing into his neck. Tony’s sleepy voice murmured against him. Surprise unsettled Loki. He’d been anticipating a sour mood from Tony all day, not affection. Tony leaned his head back just enough to speak clearly. “What’re you making?” 

“Eggs.” 

“Feed me.” 

“Perhaps when you cease to cling to me like a starved beast.” 

“You like it.” 

Loki didn’t say anything. He just reached over to the open egg carton and grabbed three more between his fingers. Tony rubbed his forehead against Loki’s back before finally letting go with a heavy sigh. He slinked over to a chair at the table and slumped down. They didn’t say much over breakfast. Yet Tony orbited around him the entire day, insistent and close as they went out into New York and came back again. 

Tony didn’t tell Loki about how that morning he’d woken up annoyed, and come to the realization in just a few moments that Loki had asked that question because Loki had been considering him. Considering what he needed. He didn’t tell Loki the ache that had caused in his chest, or that it could only be satisfied when Loki was pressed to it. Tony didn’t tell any of it, he just let Loki muse on the outpour of affection until the god casually remarked that evening as they lounged tangled up on the couch, “I do consider your friends, you know.” 

Tony glanced at him with lazy, content eyes. He raised an eyebrow. A smug grin settled over Loki’s face as he looked away. “For you,” Loki said. “I do not mean to imply that I wish to spend any leisure time with Clint in the near future.” 

Tony chuckled. “I don’t think he’d take you up on it anyway,” Tony said, pressing himself into Loki’s chest. He smiled as Loki’s arms settled around him. “Have I told you how much I love you?” Tony muttered, stretching and pulling right back into Loki. 

Loki’s fingers combed into his hair. “I don’t believe so,” he said lightly. Inwardly, he hoped that it was a trend that would continue. Tony grinned and settled back against him, the perfect image of contentment. “I told Thor of our intentions.” The sudden shift in tone didn’t jar Tony. 

“Good,” Tony said. 

Loki slipped his fingers in against Tony’s shoulder blade and traced the bony arc. “He wishes to accompany.” 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said. He leaned up and pressed his lips to Loki’s jaw, startling a smile out of him. “The more the merrier,” Tony said. “Except for right now.” He teased his way back along Loki’s jaw. 

Loki decided not to think too hard about it. Not right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50 chapters of this 'oh I'll just write it a little bit for fun' fic later... (=ω=;) goodness. 
> 
> Anyway, inching closer to that lovely confrontation with the parents chapter.


	51. (re)Meet the Parents

Tony hesitated before Loki’s outstretched hand. “I really think we should take Andor and Brynjar,” he said. A blue light in the lab blinked, reflecting against the glass of their enclosure. The rams ran in nervous circles, sensing the irritation of their makers. One of them let out an uncertain cry. 

Loki was only half paying attention to Tony, and this sudden resistance grated on his impatience. “No. They stay here. Give me your hand.” He growled out the last command. 

Instinctively, Tony hid his hands behind his back. “Loki, let’s take them,” Tony said. 

The god looked him right in the eyes, frustrated and unyielding. “Why do you choose this moment above all others to become fond of them?” 

A wry smile pulled on Tony’s face. He answered mildly. “I’m not saying we should take them for me,” he said. He shrugged his shoulders, stepping in dangerously close to Loki, bounding over that uncrossable line. He poured a little charm over his expression as he glanced up. “But I think you’d be more at ease with them.” 

Loki hissed out a dismissive huff and glanced away. “They stay here,” he said. 

“Loki…” 

Loki stared snidely down at him, answering sharply. “They are safer here.” He extended his hand, bumping it against Tony’s chest. “Your hand.” 

“Fine,” Tony said. “But put it on the record that I wanted to take them.” 

 

It was the middle of the night as they appeared in Loki’s old bedroom on Asgard. Tony brushed off his shirt. Loki illuminated a small night light. The flame danced in his hands as Tony spoke. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to show up when they were expecting us?” 

“It takes energy to transport us. I need to be rested.” Loki crossed the room to his oversized bed and let the flame drift into a small bedside holder. It cast long, dancing shadows across the dark room as he pulled the covers back. The soft rustle was a scream in the silent room. 

Tony’s shadow spoke from the distance. “And you’re going to be able to sleep?” 

“Yes. I am taking a sleep aid,” Loki said curtly. He had practiced the plan for their dinner reveal with Tony until the man could recite it in his sleep. He had not elected, however, to share his plans for the sleep aid with Tony. He heard Tony’s footsteps approach the bed. The covers went short on his end as Tony pulled them back. 

Tony had expected to be going straight into the dinner from hell. Not getting a layover. He didn’t agree with Loki’s timing, but he’d decided to fight other battles on this. He debated remarking on the questionable sleep aid. He didn’t want to rekindle one of the five fights they’d had in the past eight hours. Instead, Tony got in and wrapped his arm around Loki’s chest. “Don’t snore too loud.” 

“It is not I with that particular defect,” Loki said. His grin slipped as his body fell lax with sleep. Tony’s arm slid away from the warm body. He got right back out of bed and began pacing the room, unable to still his mind or nerves. Eventually he fell asleep sitting at Loki’s desk, head on his folded arms where he’d been watching the bedside flame flicker.

* * * 

“Oh,” Bruce said. The mug in his hand slipped and shattered on the floor. He stood locked between apologizing for the mess and walking over to aid them. “Are you…alright?”

Tony’s back was to him, bent over the chair that Loki was seated in. The god’s head had lulled back, despondent, skin pale. Loki blinked, grinning grimly, but did not otherwise acknowledge Bruce. “Yeah,” Tony said. “We’re fine.” He stepped around Loki, confident that the god would no longer slip from the chair, and Bruce was able to get a good look at him. He did not appear to be injured, but his demeanor made Bruce’s stomach cringe. 

“I’ll…uh, I’ll just clean this up and then I’ll go…” Bruce fumbled, frantically searching for a paper towel, or cloth, or anything that would clean it up faster so that he could get out of the room. He’d tear his shirt off if it meant getting out sooner.

“It’s alright,” Tony said, leaning down into the enclosure. He stood back up with Brynjar in his hand. “You can stay.” He set Brynjar in Loki’s lap. The god’s hands folded over the ram gently. 

Bruce spotted a cloth and dove down to the floor to clean the splintered ceramic and tea. “That’s okay.” 

“Really,” Tony said, in a way that Bruce knew he meant it. “You can hear about our little vacation on Asgard.” 

“Tony,” Loki said, tired concern and warning in his voice. 

“Just the juicy bits,” Tony promised. He nodded his head to the empty chair at the computer desk. 

Bruce finished cleaning up the rest of the spill, casting Tony an uncertain look. The inventor just grinned, eyes quietly asserting that Bruce was to stay, before turning back to the enclosure. Tony picked up Andor and set the ram on Loki’s shoulder. He promptly began to purr.

* * * 

Loki awoke to the morning bells announcing sunrise. He took a cursory glance over the sheets for Tony, stretching. He seized as he realized that the bed was empty. He bolted up. Scanning the room, his shoulders slumped down when he finally spotted Tony hunched over the desk.

Tony woke up right as Loki’s footsteps approached. “What were you doing?” Loki asked irritably as Tony blinked up at him. 

Tony rubbed his eyes. “Sleeping,” he said dully. He stretched an arm back over his head, staring at Loki with one eye squeezed shut. “You didn’t exactly clue me in on the wait time before our dinner from hell. What’re we doing with the rest of today?” 

Crossing his arms, Loki said, “I thought I would show you something.” 

Tony stood up stiffly, flexing his back. He smiled at his god, pleasantly expectant. “Get dressed first,” Loki said. He gestured toward a closet door. After a moment, Loki turned and walked into the bathroom. Tony got up and threw on his clothes quickly. He was sitting on the bed waiting when Loki walked out, underdressed for a day with disapproving parents. Instead of saying anything, Loki held out his hand after he approached the bed. 

He guided Tony over to a hidden door. 

“I wish I could say I’m surprised that’s there,” Tony said as they squeezed into a narrow passageway. 

“Impressed would suffice,” Loki said. 

“Ehh,” Tony shrugged. “I’ve seen you do better.” 

Loki cast a snarky grin in Tony’s direction. “I have kept this hidden from everyone, even the All-mother,” he said with pleased pride. 

“I’ll decide how impressive that is after dinner,” Tony said. Loki didn't have anything to say after that. Mentally, Tony kicked himself for bringing that back up, as if they’d been free of it. The walls were made of cobbled stone and damp in some places. In other places they didn’t appear to exist at all. There was just some narrow force keeping them there instead. 

“Almost there,” Loki said. 

He grabbed Tony’s hand and pulled the man up through a narrow trap door. The inside of this room was pitch black, but it burst into light as Loki cast flames into holders upon the walls. A small nook of a room was revealed. It was just big enough to hold them both along with the table that was pushed up against the wall. 

It was stacked with treasures—unusual books (erotica, Tony would guess without turning a page), crystals, a long striped feather, small pebbles polished smooth by a stream, some papers, and a little wooden horse that Tony recognized. “I know this guy,” Tony said, picking the toy up from the desk. A soft grin appeared on Loki’s face. 

“Yes,” he said. Loki carefully set a few papers aside so that he could sit down on the desk. He left the sacred items untouched. They were deeply familiar, and had not changed much over the years. 

Tony turned the horse over, studying the nicks and scratches. When he set it down on the table, he read the first paper in the pile. It appeared to be a school award of some sort. 

“How’d you find this place?” Tony asked. “Asgard’s really got to step up its security system if there are mystery tunnels everywhere.” 

“I made it,” Loki said. “It was one of my first larger magic projects, when I was just reaching adolescence.”

“It feels like a clubhouse,” Tony said. Then he got a certain grin on his face, and Loki knew what was coming even before he said it. “Must’ve been a fun place once you hit puberty. God, I would’ve killed to have a room to sneak girls off into when I lived at home.” 

Loki smiled, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t have considered it,” he said. “There were far better places to run off to, and surely you’ve noticed the lack of comfortable surfaces?” 

“Yeah, but it just adds to the whole sneaking out and getting away with something element, doesn’t it?” Tony asked. He held onto the amusement on Loki’s face, knowing he’d need it later. “Yeah alright,” Tony shrugged. “It’s not exactly a hotel, but that’s not why you brought me here, is it?” 

Loki shook his head, casting his gaze over the desk as he adjusted the leg he had leaning out from it. “I’ve never shared it with another.” 

“Aww, Loki, I’m touched,” Tony said to detract from the peculiar palpitation hitting him. Loki softly kicked at his shin. 

“There are other rooms on this path that others have seen,” Loki said. “Don’t be too sure of yourself, Stark.” 

“There are other rooms?” Tony asked, completely ignoring the last part. 

Loki nodded. “This connects to the kitchens, libraries, several courtyards, and a few other rooms. I added to it as I aged.” He ignored the deviant look on Tony’s face. “And no, I haven’t any rooms of a certain variety. The All-mother and father were happy to turn a blind eye to lustful pursuits.” He scratched his nail against the wood table. “Those ran little risk aside from a few youthful emotions. Evading unintended pregnancy presents little challenge here. They needn't have been as concerned as your father was about some suitor making claim to their wealth with an unannounced heir,” Loki said. He had quite a few things to say on the matter of Tony’s father, but he would save it for another time. “Official ties, however…” 

“And this is official,” Tony said, gesturing between them, testing the water. Loki gave him a grave look. The god’s lip twitched, on the edge of saying something. “I mean,” Tony said. “I know how it is between us, I just don’t know how your parents are going to think about it.” 

They'd discussed it before, but Tony was asking again. He felt like he’d get better, deeper answers this time. Loki quirked his lips in passive thought. “It is rather obvious. I do not believe that they will be persuaded that it is anything less, title given or not.” He paused for a moment. “I do not believe they will grant you one,” he said, the faintest redness seeping into his cheeks. If Tony hadn’t known him better, he would’ve missed it completely. “Not with my standing. Yet if you wish to have one, it is your right.” 

“Now’s not a good time to ask them for one,” Tony dismissed it. He nudged the bottom of Loki’s foot with his own. “Besides, I’m not really interested in a title.” 

Loki sighed, accidentally vocalizing as he did. “You are entitled to one,” he said quickly. “It is a legality, but perhaps later down the line, if their opinion is favorable…” Tony watched him fret, trying not to smile. He was just about to reprieve the god when Loki said, “of course, children would force their hand.” 

Tony snapped back as if he’d been struck, accidentally knocking his shoulder into the wall. He sucked air in against his teeth and clutched a hand over the throbbing ache. “This whole time you’ve been going on about kids because you wanted to…” His voice jumped as his brows furrowed down. “What, exactly? Swoop me in under some title?” 

Loki leaned off the desk and stood, reaching his hand down into Tony’s shirt collar and over the aching shoulder, whisking the pain away. “Of course not,” he said irritably as his fingertips circled over the last notes of pain. As his hand receded he lowered his eyes to Tony’s level and spoke sternly. “If you were not so stubborn, it would make some transitions easier. I will not be faulted for recognizing the advantages of something I already want.” He leaned back against the desk, balancing his arms on either side of him. 

After thinking about it for a moment, Tony groaned, staring up at the ceiling. He rubbed his shoulder, massaging little circles against the cotton t-shirt. “Now I have images of you super pregnant and going into labor at this dinner from hell, like some crap on daytime television. We are not daytime television, Loki. We are better than that.” 

With out skipping a beat, Loki said smoothly, “I would not be the one pregnant.” 

Balking, Tony’s eyes flared white in the dim flame light. “I’m not the one getting pregnant,” Tony said, pitchy. “You…you’re the one with the fucking magic. Not me. No, no. No.” 

With a shrug of his arms, Loki glanced at him. The assured look in his eyes was unnerving. “They would not dare to touch the one carrying my heir. If I am carrying it, what value do you hold?” He asked. “Of course you would be the natural choice if I wished to force their hand.” 

“Ya know, I feel pretty okay about this nightmare dinner, and then you go and say things like that and I’m not so sure.” A chill set over Tony’s skin, making him slightly clammy. The knife blade of a look on Loki’s face was the worst sort of reprimand. “I know dinner was my idea,” Tony said. “I’m still right,” he assured Loki. “We’re doing it.” 

The god sighed. Quietly he said, “I know you think me paranoid, but I have seen the brute force they have exacted upon their enemies. I do not wish to see it turn on me.” Loki licked his lips. “They will not hesitate to use it on their monster son.” 

“You’re not a monster,” Tony said, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Loki’s neck. Pleasantly, the god didn’t shrug him off or push away. Tony needed the contact. He spoke over Loki’s shoulder. “And you know I couldn’t care less if you had three heads, so don’t go there.” Loki sighed. “Fuck, you know, I get really pissed at them sometimes for making you feel like this.” 

The anger in Tony’s voice curled pleasantly down into Loki’s stomach. He reached up and combed his fingers through Tony’s hair. Tony stood back, eyes alight with self-righteous fury. “If they can’t see how god damn lucky they got with you, they’re out of their minds.” Loki let that warmth pool in him as Tony pulled away. 

Loki’s hand slipped over the desk, grabbing Sleipnir. He placed it in Tony’s palm, a smile dancing on his mouth. “I’m trying very hard to ignore the part of the conversation that happened before this and you’re making it difficult,” Tony said. He tried to give Sleipnir back. 

Loki sat on his hands, mischief in full swing. “I do enjoy the thought of you carrying our child,” Loki said. “Round and—”

“Stop right there,” Tony said, throwing his hands up. He gently tossed the horse onto the desk. It landed with a soft _dink_. “No talking like that. I don’t—” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?” 

“Why would I desire—”

“I don’t want to hear some pregnancy fantasy, I just don’t—” Tony started, completely baffled over whether Loki was just fucking with him for the fun of it or genuinely serious. The grin on Loki’s face could go either way. “Where’s this from?” Tony asked, snatching a crystal off the desk and holding it up. “Did you find it on a nature hike? It looks kind of Kryptonite-y. It’s not going to knock out Thor, is it? Do these crystals do something, or were they just pretty? You’re kind of a magpie, you know that?” 

Loki chuckled, reveling in the discomfort that Tony squirmed in. 

“I’m going to read your old school awards,” Tony announced, grabbing up the papers. He began interpreting the runes. “For spelling—” Loki snatched the paper away, vanishing it and the others. “Ah-ha!” Tony boasted. “You have some sentimental shit lying around, god of mischief.” 

“That crystal is an amplifier,” Loki said. “It works with the particles in—”

“Now you’re trying to distract me with science,” Tony said. 

“Is it working?” 

Tony pursed his lips, considering that. “I could return to one our previous topics,” Loki said. “Perhaps on the topic of children?” 

“It amplifies the what now?” Tony asked. Loki grinned and proceeded to tell him. 

After a while, they made their way back into the peculiar tunnel. This time, Loki took him to a hidden door in the library. They blinked as their eyes adjusted to the bright room. Long shafts of light poured in from grand windows, reflecting off the golden shelves and decor, lending the room an ethereal quality. Loki walked among the shelves as if visiting old friends. It was not unlike Tony’s lab. 

“Oh!” A voice exclaimed, startled. Loki turned around just in time to see Tony taking a step back from a taller man. He had thick curls on his head and a cape that fell down to the floor. Recognizing him, Loki let out a deep sigh of relief as he walked up to Tony’s side. “I’d been wondering when you two would appear,” Bragi said. Tony smiled, not certain if he was supposed to know this person. 

“This is Bragi, Idunn’s husband,” Loki said. He gave a cordial nod to the man before gesturing to Tony. “This is Tony Stark of Midgard.” 

“I presumed such,” Bragi said. “Idunn speaks fondly of you. I recognized you from her tales even before I saw you in the company of our prince.” A wistfulness settled in his eyes. “She cherishes your choice. Her favor is not common, you know…” He grinned, coming out of his reverie. Loki was giving him a tolerant stare, but Tony seemed somewhat startled. “It is an honor to meet you.” 

“Yeah. Nice to meet you too,” Tony said. 

Bragi nodded his head. “Well, I am certain that you have much to attend to. I will leave you to your ways.” He paused before taking a step towards a separate row of books. “You are always welcome to visit the garden, you know. Idunn and I would be honored to have you. Please consider it.” 

“Thank you for the kind invitation,” Loki said. The moment Bragi was out of earshot he muttered, “that’s short for him.” 

“Is that a bad thing?” Tony asked. 

Loki ran his finger down the spine of a book he was about to take. “No,” he said. “I think he’s rather considerate.” Tony frowned, staring around the otherwise empty library. “I take it as an indicator that he is indeed rather fond of us,” Loki added. 

“At least someone is,” Tony said. 

Loki huffed out a breath as he pulled the book off the shelf. 

 

They spent the entire rest of the day sneaking through Loki’s old haunts and reliving his earlier escapades. It was only when they finally returned to the bedroom that the mood soured. At once they became silent. They disrobed in quiet, trading their casual clothes for the garments Loki had carefully selected. Tony had already fought him on this point and lost. 

Tony walked up to the long black mirror on Loki’s wall. He adjusted the leatherwork across his chest. It consisted of black, olive, and gold. He never would’ve chosen it on his own. The boots were heavy and restrictive, and the overall weight of the ensemble overbearing. He frowned in the mirror. The only part of himself that he recognized was in his expression. 

Loki walked up quietly behind him, cape billowing in a bright emerald. He stood behind Tony with an expression no less morose. His hands drifted up behind Tony in the mirror. They settled on either side of Tony’s face, eyes meeting in the reflection. Long tresses fell down over Tony’s shoulders. Wordlessly, Loki began to braid. “If a hairstyle could convince them, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Tony said. “Leave it the way it was.” His voice was weighty. 

Loki didn’t glance up from his hands at work. “A small shift in perception may be all that tips the scales,” he said softly. “It is better to prepare.” 

“Yeah. Don’t bring up the thirty topics you discussed, use a fork this way, drink this many times…Loki,” Tony said. “It doesn’t matter. If they don’t want to like me, they won’t.” The hands in his hair tugged harshly through the next tress. “We don't have to please them.” 

“If we wish a more pleasant existence, we do.” Loki tied off the braid with a thin black cord. He pulled Tony’s shoulders back, forcing him to stand straight. Tony leaned back into him, making the god catch him. 

Tony met Loki’s eyes in the mirror again. “If they care more about their politics than your happiness, they don’t care enough about you.” 

Loki turned Tony around, gripping his shoulders. “Let us not speak of that,” he warned. He wished that Tony would fall silent and follow the script that they’d agreed upon. He took a deep breath, trying not to give away the extent of his tension by squeezing Tony’s shoulders too tightly. 

“We don’t need them,” Tony said. “I have a lot of wealth back on Earth, and besides that, it’s not our only option.” When Loki said nothing, he decided to press on. “I just want you to know that we’re going into this with options, no matter what happens. We don’t need—”

“Yes we do,” Loki said. His wide eyes burrowed into Tony’s naive gaze. “If we want our children and our legacy to be the greatest of the nine, we do. I will not force them into squalor because—”

“Because their dads were above begging Asgard?” Tony cut him off. 

“We are not begging Asgard,” Loki gritted out. “We are assuring what we are rightfully owed.” He released Tony’s shoulders, hands smoothing out his own attire. “I will not flee from their judgment, or be made to forsake fortune.” He closed his eyes. After a moment, he turned away. “Come, we shall be late,” he said, footsteps echoing as he started for the door. 

Tony hurried up alongside him. “That sounds a bit more like you,” Tony said, grabbing his hand. Loki grinned, but it was short lived. They fell silent as they walked the halls together. 

To Tony, it felt like forever before they were walking past guards into an opulent dining room. For Loki, it was far too brief. The table was empty by Asgardian standards. Only the royal family was present. Loki watched as his mother’s gaze fell upon Tony. Her magic would inform her before her eyes did. Already he felt its tendrils stretch towards them, seeking information. He memorized the moment her face twitched, giving far too much away, lips pulling tight with unspoken knowledge. Odin would soon notice too, though he was less in tune with his younger son’s magic, and presumably that around Tony. Loki planned to announce before then. He leaned down to whisper in Tony’s ear just as the man waved at Thor. “She knows,” he said. 

“Right on schedule,” Tony muttered out of the side of his mouth. 

Tony approached the table as they’d rehearsed, reciting the proper greetings perfectly. Loki hadn’t needed to tell him about his mother. Tony could tell by the flurry of emotions rocking just beneath the surface of her face, pinched in ways not unlike Loki’s own tells. Tony also noticed the way that Thor moved in marginally closer to him when he sat down, a barrier between the parents. Loki began a series of pleasantries with his parents while Tony recalled what felt like eons ago. He'd been trapped at the table between the two brothers before, on the day that Thor found out about their little apple predicament. He felt like throwing up. 

Tony mentally recited the uses of the various forks in his head as a distraction. Loki said to only touch that slender one if a particular kind of meat was served, Loki didn’t think his jokes about that one were funny, Loki also didn’t like the way he held that little silver spoon. They’d worked on that fifteen times, probably. Oh, and the stupid cup. It had to be held up at the beginning of the meal, and it was inappropriate to look inside. He shouldn’t smash any cups since it was his first visit…

“I do come with news,” Loki said. The instant shift in his voice pricked Tony’s attention. Loki stood from the table. Tony hurried to get to his feet at the same time, right on cue. He held his breath. 

Loki stood up taller. He would make his announcement with pride. Tony had chosen him. He took a slow, steady breath. The words came strong and clear. “Tony has joined alongside me in the immortal realm as one of Idunn’s blessed.” 

Immediately, the air in the room stretched thin. Tony’s eyes went straight to Odin. The older man’s face flushed with fury beneath his beard, but he was staying so much calmer than Tony had anticipated. Tony’s muscles wound tight as he waited for the inevitable outburst. 

Loki’s attention darted to his mother first. She glanced at him, all of the anger evident just under her serene composure, before she calmly spoke. “Do sit down,” she said. “The first course has not been served yet.” 

Loki flinched. 

He had anticipated every reaction except for this. Dismissal was cruel. It cut in a way that still surprised him after all of these years. Slowly, he stole a glance towards Tony, as if the man had an answer. Tony threw him a dubious look as the All-mother spoke again. “There is no need for such decorum here, Loki. You are at the royal table, not presiding over the court.” 

The callous, bored mother tone was swifter than any arrow. Loki moved to sit. Tony caught his forearm. Despite the casual way he stood, Tony’s set determination was given away by the chin he held high. Loki straightened himself as Tony let go, focus locked straight ahead. 

Nervous anxiety and daring anticipation swept through Loki as he held his breath, waiting to see what Tony would do next. He could do nothing else.

“Your son just announced a game changer in his life, and you’re going to play the nothing is up game?” Tony asked, voice bold and certain. Loki’s gaze dropped to the table, heat pooling in his cheeks. He glamoured right over them, but could feel the burn anyway. Tony didn’t just step over a line, he ran. Perhaps it had been a mistake not to try and stop him, but in that moment, Loki had only wanted to see what Tony could do. 

“I do not presume for you to understand our ways,” Frigga said. She smiled coldly. “I will not presume for us to understand yours. Please have a seat.” 

Tony sat loudly, scraping his chair against the ground. “Great. I’m seated,” he said. “Now about the announcement we’ve just made—” Loki was still standing. Tony’s hand set on his cape to guide him back down just as Odin’s voice filled the room. 

“You will not speak with such disregard to the Queen of Asgard!” The yell echoed down the hall, startling the less experienced servants. A plate clattered as it smacked the floor. 

Loki sat in a heartbeat. The side of his hand set against Tony’s thigh, barely touching in a quiet nudge to be silent. “Thor,” Frigga said. “Tell us of your most recent voyage to Alfenheim.” She spoke to Loki without taking her attention from Thor. “Your brother is courting one of their nobility.” 

Thor took a deep breath as Loki and Tony both bristled at the implication in that. He cleared his throat, hesitant to speak as a servant deposited drinks on the table as swiftly as politely possible. Thor smiled uncomfortably as Frigga waited. “It was a brief trip, I do not wish to bore you. Perhaps my comrade Tony could share the tales of some of the battles we had on Midgard—”

“We have no interest in that primitive realm,” Odin said. “It is insult enough that they have caused us such strife in recent events.” He took a drink of his mead, not bothering to look at anyone else at the table. 

“That’s a lot of talk for a realm that couldn’t keep its toys in a box,” Tony said. Thor stilled his hand as it compulsively flexed for Mjolnir’s reassurance in the same moment that Loki shut his eyes and clenched his hands in his lap. 

Instead of yelling, Odin cut with sarcasm. “How fortunate my sons have been to meet you. I would not be able to find a teacher of such humility anywhere else. They can learn a valuable lesson by studying you.” 

Loki’s hand broke past decorum and clenched onto Tony’s knee under the table as he kept his gaze straight ahead. Any other time, he would’ve gladly traded places to be the one snipping at Odin instead, but Tony _was_ vulnerable. He couldn’t have another lapse in judgment and let Tony stand up to Odin. It was far too much of a risk. 

Loki had worked his way around Odin before, countless times in his youth. He knew what to say and do to appease the old man. He could do it again now and keep Tony safe. But the fury he felt also made that difficult. He wanted to yell far more than Tony did. Tony’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Funny how Midgard’s fine when you want to banish one of your sons there for the old worthiness lesson, but completely worthless when it comes to anything else. What are we? A little study abroad experience where you just don’t have to fuck up too badly and everyone thinks you’re great when you get home?” Tony wasn’t just angry for himself now. The old resentments for the attack on New York shined through. Loki’s grip on his knee became painful. “Loki and I are sticking together from now on, so let’s get one thing straight—you are not going to dismiss us. You are not going to ignore us. And you are _not going to threaten us_.” 

Loki’s fingers went lax as Tony’s words slipped into his mind like a heady wine. He was overcome with a stirring affection for Tony that sunk in with more satisfaction than any planning could ever bring. His once mortal awaited his fate with stubborn rage. 

“Do you dare to accuse me of threatening my son?” Frigga asked. 

In the most unfortunate of ways, Odin spoke at the exact same time. “I shall threaten you both anyway I please.” 

The couple at the head of the table paused, almost comically. Frigga spoke quickly. “Tony Stark, this is a closed matter for our family to discuss.” 

“He is just as much a part of this table as I am,” Loki said, voice level and firm. 

Odin lost what little patience he had. “You will be silent,” he said. “You are a liar and a thief.” The words were rote and practiced, uttered a thousand times already before. Loki began to block it out. Thor intervened. 

“Tony belongs beside Loki. I consider him a brother.” 

Tony didn’t know if he just wanted to slide under the table away from this worsening mess, or hug Thor for that. He was too busy reeling from that declaration to look at anyone. Loki’s expression softened in a way so raw and delicate that it would’ve broken Tony to witness anyway. 

That was also all that it took for the practiced decorum to snap. “Both of my sons have been keeping things from me,” Frigga said, letting her emotions come through without pretense. It no longer seemed to matter whether or not Tony was at the table. 

“You knew of Tony’s courting,” Thor told his mother. “You have met with Tony before.” Tony dared a glance at Loki as the parents’ attention swiveled onto Thor. Loki smiled back, just barely, at the corners of his lips. “Tony is a good man and we are fortunate to invite him into our family.” 

“Our family?” Odin exclaimed. “This mortal is nothing but a troublemaker.” 

“Sitting right here,” Tony said. 

Years later, Loki would recall that moment and laugh. 

“Loki—” Thor started. 

“Has disappointed this family enough with his indolences,” Odin said. “Since your coronation he has done nothing but bring strife, and now we are forced to witness his involvement with this—” Odin gestured disgustedly towards Tony. “Midgardian,” he finished. Tony pushed back from the table, ready to stand up. He was not about to let any part of that go. Thor put his arm in front of Tony’s chest. 

“I will not stand for the slander of my brother or my friend,” Thor said. His voice echoed down the hall, not unlike Odin’s. The servants in the wings pushed hot plates back towards the kitchens, holding their collective breath. Loki’s hand clasped protectively around Tony’s. If it came down to fleeing to spare them, so be it. “And have you no consideration for Loki? We have given him slight enough, do we truly wish to give him yet another cause?” 

“You do not know your place,” Odin said. 

“I know it well enough,” Thor declared. 

Frigga placed her hands on the table. “We should pay this some consideration,” she told Odin quietly, gaze locked on her sons. He stared at her, wavering on something. She leaned towards him and muttered something in his ear that seemed to placate him considerably. 

No one spoke. A servant rolled out a cart of food and placed it on the table swiftly before disappearing with a curt bow. There was nothing but the sound of cutlery. Tony opened his mouth to speak, but Loki nudged him before he could get the first sound out. Loki’s foot brushed reassuringly against his. 

Tony couldn’t eat. He watched the others instead. Loki ate slowly, consumed in thought as he mulled over each detail. Thor ate with abandon, channeling his energy into the act. Odin and Frigga ate with quiet resignation. Tony couldn’t slip past the feeling that this was a family dinner that had occurred many times before. The meal was long and silent. Tony didn’t think that was possible for Asgardians, but it was. When he finally saw Loki move the furthest spoon to the side of his plate, signaling the final stages of this longest meal of his life, Tony collapsed inside from relief. 

He followed the practiced routine smoothly. Move the furthest spoon. Fold the napkin under. Only when they dismissed themselves did Loki deviate from the rehearsal. He didn’t bow, and neither did Tony. 

Tony didn’t know if it had gone well or not. They walked through the doors and past several halls before Loki spoke. “Tony,” he said, voice heavy. It was lusty, Tony thought, but that couldn’t be right. It couldn’t be right at all. “I do—” He started in the same voice. 

“Tony! Loki!” Thor yelled out behind them. He jogged to catch up. When he caught them, Tony gave him a weak smile. “Tony, now that it is known, I wish to throw you a proper welcome into our halls.” Thor clapped a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “But perhaps a later time would be wisest. I should like to invite our comrades from Midgard as well.” 

Tony shook his head. “Yeah, about that, they don’t know about the whole—immortality thing yet. I’ve kinda been waiting for the right moment or something,” Tony said. “Don’t spill, okay?” 

There was something thoughtful in Thor’s eyes, but his overall expression did not change. “I must also apologize for my family’s disgrace. They are not accustomed to surprises.” 

“Is that what that was?” Tony asked flippantly. Loki’s hand brushed placatingly against his back. “Yeah, alright. Party it is, then.” 

“They will come around,” Thor said. He looked to Loki then, expression rife with unspoken emotion. 

Tony got the idea. “I’ll uh, be back in the room,” Tony said, dismissing himself. He didn’t linger to see the first genuine hug between the brothers in years.

* * * 

Bruce leaned back in the computer chair, causing the hinge to squeak. “Excuse me if I’m not getting something, but that doesn’t seem too bad.” It didn’t seem to account for Loki’s state, or Tony’s anxious chatter, but he wasn’t going to come right out and say that.

Tony had left out a lot. Everything that had happened leading up to the dinner, the tunnel, Bragi, the whole immortality thing. “Bruce,” Tony said. “I haven’t been to a dinner that tense since a Stark board meeting where there were going to be layoffs.”  

“Stark,” Loki said. His eyes were shut, neck exposed as his head tipped back over the chair. “Tell him what happened after.” 

“Oh,” Tony said. “Yeah.”

* * * 

Tony didn’t make it back to the bedroom. He heard Loki and Thor talking, clearly intending to catch up with him, and yet just as he turned around, another voice joined theirs. “We have much to talk about,” Frigga said. Tony froze at the end of the hall.

Thor and Loki were a good ten yards away, and their mother another another five. “You kept something very important from me.” Tony backed away, out of her line of sight. “How could you keep this from _your mother_?” 

Loki rolled his eyes before he could fight off the impulse to do so. “Yes, _mother_ , I ever wonder why. It is not as if your approval left anything to be desired.” He wanted to turn from her right then, but the wounded look on her face kept him anchored right there. Whether he cursed it or not, she would always hold sway over him in ways that Odin did not. 

“When did you tell me the degree of sincerity you held? I seldom get a moment with you,” she said. The lie roiled under Loki’s skin. She knew well of his feelings on the matter—she simply refused to accept them. 

“You wish to see it as nothing other than an act of willful disobedience,” Loki said. “In any event, Tony and I are, as he put it, sticking together.” He took a deep breath. “And I intend to adhere to that now.” Turning on his heel, he started down the hall calling out, “Tony!” The man stepped out reluctantly from behind a poll, grinning as if they’d only been playing a game of hide and seek. 

Frigga watched her youngest son meet the man that had been clandestinely slipped into her family. “Loki,” she called. “Come back here.” 

“Mother,” Thor said. “You and I know it is best to leave him alone.” 

“Be grateful that your father is not here,” she said. “Loki!” 

He spun around just as he reached Tony’s side. Stepping slightly in front of the man, he took Tony’s hand behind his back, keeping it hidden. He refused to walk back towards her. 

She stayed in place, Thor uncomfortably between them. “It wounds me that you have kept this.” 

Tony flinched as Loki’s grip crushed his hand. Loki gritted down on his teeth. “I have kept nothing,” Loki said. He was the only one listening that believed that sentiment, but only Frigga was going to call him out on it. 

She folded her arms over her chest, robes spinning along the floor. “You have. Now dearest, allow me to speak to you alone. I only wish to understand.” Loki sneered. She didn’t give him time to speak. “I see,” she said. “It is perfectly acceptable to allow me your company when you wish to be granted lands, but not when I wish to speak to you.” 

“Do not twist my intentions,” Loki said. 

“I haven’t,” Frigga said. 

Loki’s eyes narrowed as his thoughts raced. Tony’s hand flexed in his own and he released some of the tension, realizing that he may have been crushing Tony. “Uh,” Tony said quietly. “Can I jump in?” Loki gave him a quick look, assessing and critical. “Just—” Tony smiled uncomfortably. He sighed, then closed his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe you should play the game,” he muttered. “Make momma dearest happy if she’s cool with us so this whole thing can be over—”

“Will you accept?” Loki called down the hallway. “Do I have your word that you will accept Tony’s place beside mine in the immortal realm?” 

Frigga took a deep breath, chest expanding perceptibly. Her face showed nothing but motherly kindness. “Idunn has granted her blessing,” she said. “You know that I cannot change that, dear.” 

“I see,” Loki said. “In that case, I believe we will only be wasting one another’s time.” Frigga’s voice appeared inside of his head. _Tony is a fine man, and good in his own right. But he has no place here. Why are you settling, love?_

“Ouch!” Tony whimpered, shaking his arm from Loki’s vice grip. The god loosened but didn’t let go. He cast Tony a brief apologetic look before refocussing on his mother. _Do you think we deny you your place, Loki? There is still time to reconcile all of this._

“Will you cease?” Loki hissed. Tony looked around in confusion, but there was something dawning and uncomfortable on Thor’s face. He held a fist up, covering his mouth above his crossed arms as he stared at the floor.

“There would be no need if you would allow me to speak to you,” Frigga said. Glowering, Loki chose his words carefully. He did not have his mother’s gift. Whatever he wished to say would have to be spoken aloud. 

He was simply torn between the two things he desperately wanted—appeasing them and keeping the privileges he had to build a future in the realms—and tearing them asunder for every slight they’d ever committed. He swung between the two, acting on both impulsively. “Save your disapproval,” Loki said. “I have heard it often enough. Tony stays.” _And what of my concern?_ “And what of your anger?” Loki asked darkly. 

This changed Frigga’s composure considerably. “Perhaps I have been too lenient on you.” 

“I assure you that Odin made up for it,” Loki said.

“Your father—”

“He’s not my father!” 

“Your father—” Instantly, Loki knew which desire would win. He had crafted everything so carefully. Planned meticulously. It didn’t matter. This desire would win. 

“You have no right to call him my father! You stole a child for your own gain, and now that it is grown and has ideas of its own, you cannot stand it! I will not give up the one that I love for your petty politics.” His lip quivered. Damn his weakness. As he yelled, he felt the surging impulse to cry build. “You act as if this is your decision to make! Do not feign concern when all you mean is to trap me. You have no right to govern over who I choose.” He swallowed hard. “I have given you everything. I have worked ceaselessly for your attention, excelled in everything you ever gave me, and yet I am nothing! I am overlooked at every venture in my life, and now that I have something of meaning, you are only too eager to take it away!” He blinked hard, rage prodding him on. “I have loved you mother, but I have no right to call you that.” His chest shook. “I am weary of attempting to live up to your expectations.” 

“You accuse me falsely,” Frigga said.

“Do not deny me!” Loki bellowed. Wrath overtook him. “I refuse to live in the shadow of Asgard! I was never a part of it, and it only took me too long to see! No, I do not accuse you falsely. I only see too clearly now that my purpose here is to serve and not speak. Act without desire. Please without return. Well. I refuse.” 

“I have given you everything with love. You are my son.” Frigga’s jewels jingled as she stood with her head held high, fury and heartache taking their turn on her face. “I have not denied you. I have only envisioned the best paths for you to take. I will not stand idle as you sabotage your life, and I will not listen to your unfounded hatred.” She lifted her hands back to the sides, a glowing gold heat gathering around them. “Do not return until you have realized your error and are prepared to apologize.” 

“Do not seek me, mother, until you are willing to do the same.” Tony felt magic tug at him, and the next moment they were standing in his lab. 

Tony glanced up at Loki. The god gave him a broken smile, face weak with the last tear. Tony’s arms wrapped in around his waist. His bottom lip quivered. “I have ruined it all,” Loki whispered. 

“No,” Tony said. “You haven’t.” 

Loki slumped against him. He buried his nose in the man’s hair, breathing him in. Tony was the anchor that called him home when he drifted too far. “Fuck it,” Tony said. “You lost a couple of properties, so what? It’s not like we needed them.” Tony’s hands kneaded against his tight back. “We’ll be okay.” 

Loki shook his head no, not leaving Tony’s scent. “Frigga will assure that I keep them,” he muttered. “It gives her a few set locations in which she may look to find me.” His unclenched his hands to open stiffly against Tony’s warm back. 

“You wanna give her that?” Tony asked, expecting to hear a no. 

“I want those places for my own means,” Loki muttered. The arms he’d wrapped around Tony’s shoulders were heavy. He closed his eyes. 

“Do you think she’ll come around?” Tony asked quietly, resting his forehead on Loki’s shoulder. The rams began to squeal behind them. He pulled Loki in harder. 

“Eventually,” Loki whispered. “Perhaps.” Tony navigated him backwards to a chair and helped him sit down. Loki gave him a sad, tired look as he did. 

“I know you didn’t want things to go that way with her,” Tony said. Loki blinked and cast his eyes towards the floor, grimly smiling in a silent yes. “I’m sorry.” 

Loki took the hand that had bruised with his squeezing. A slow, warm spell licked away the purple and blue bruising in Tony’s skin. He pressed his lips to where the injury had been. “No,” Loki said. “This was inevitable.” He spoke to the floor, unable to look Tony in the eye. “It was my failing not to do it sooner.” 

Tony leaned down over him, the leather from his Asgardian ensemble creaking. “After tonight, I don’t blame you.” He combed his fingers back through Loki’s hair, trying to get those lucid green eyes to rest on him. “But hey, you got to see how great I look in black leather. Not that it’s the first time…” He checked, but Loki didn’t smile. “And we got to visit your super secret club house, and Bragi seems like the kind of guy that’d buy us some drinks.” Loki slumped forward and pressed his nose to Tony’s chest. The man’s fingers massaged against his scalp. His chest shook as he spoke. “You did okay. Come on Loki,” Tony said, making his tone light. “I’m supposed to be the insecure one in the relationship.” 

Loki grinned against him. He leaned back just enough that Tony could see his face. The distraught look in those brown eyes struck him with shame. Tony leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Really,” Tony said. “Look at this hair and tell me it wasn’t at least a little bit worth it.” 

Loki pretended to look at Tony’s braid, but really he was just letting his eyes fall on the door in the distance. Tony’s hands ran back through his hair. “It’ll work out,” Tony muttered. “We’ll make it work out.” 

Before Loki could point out all the ways that Tony was wrong, the door opened.

* * * 

“Loki’s mother came and found us, chewed him out, and told us not to come back,” Tony summarized. “Until Loki apologized, which is a classic parent move if I do say so myself,” Tony said. He didn’t spin a single detail.

It didn’t matter. The last part dawned on Bruce’s face, flushing him with sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. He shrugged, smiling somewhat hesitantly. “You don’t really think she’ll keep to that, do you?”

“Her spell left no room for doubt,” Loki said. 

“Is that what the glowy-hands thing was about?” Tony asked. Loki glanced at him and gave a tired nod of his head. “Well,” Tony said. “I can’t say that my old man had that trick up his sleeve. I guess crawling in through a window isn’t an option.” Tony sat down on the ledge of the desk, limp and vaguely dazed. Loki dug his fingers into the curls in Brynjar’s fur. 

A sharp flicker of green pierced Bruce’s eye, but it was gone too quickly to be noticed. “I’ve got some things to get back to,” Bruce said. 

“Let’s order in pizza,” Tony said. “Come on, I’ll buy. You can show me whatever movie I’ve missed while I’ve been gone and make fun of me for being more out of date than Steve.” He scooted closer to Bruce just as Bruce stood up. 

“I’m good,” Bruce said. He avoided looking at Loki as he started for the door. 

“Last chance for free cheese pizza,” Tony called after him. Bruce shook his head. 

He slipped past the doors saying, “you know that stuff’s not good for you.” 

Loki grabbed Andor from his shoulder and set the ram in Tony’s lap. Tony caught the tired look in his eyes and held it. Loki dropped his head back, shutting his eyes as his fingers dug back into Brynjar’s fur. Andor turned around in a circle once before settling down and starting to purr. Tony polished away a bit of dirt from his helmet. 

He pulled a section of Andor’s curly fur through his fingers, watching it go straight before snapping back to a curl. Behind him, the dull hum of electronics kept them company. 

Tony studied the patterns of cowlicks in Andor’s fur until he couldn’t outrun the question he’d been avoiding any longer. “How’re we doing on this whole wrath of Asgard thing?” Tony asked as a nail snagged in Andor’s fur. 

He quickly worked it free, placating the ram with tiny pats as Loki mulled that question over. “The dinner was quite…” Loki licked his lips. “Impressive.” Tony didn’t look up or say anything. If he caught the tone in that last word it didn’t show. “Though I have not openly displeased my mother so greatly in a long time.” Loki glanced over at Tony, contentment flirting with him as he watched the man focus resolutely on Andor. “In truth, she would tend to me in the prisons. I do not think her wrath is quite so unforgiving as Odin’s.” He paused. “But you must understand that she is Odin’s wife just as much as she is my mother.” 

“How do you wanna call it?” Tony asked. 

“What do you mean?” 

Tony’s head dropped back down. He twisted an errant curl along his pointer finger. “I mean, are you going to be sleeping with one eye open, or…” Loki studied the man as he trailed off reluctantly. 

Loki pushed his shoulders back. He didn’t answer right away. Instead he watched Tony toy with the ram in his lap for a few minutes before finally speaking. “My focus will settle on us,” he said. “I do not wish to return us to the harried months we have had, and I do not think us in immediate danger.” 

Tony let go of a tightly held breath. “So we can get back to screwing around and going wherever the hell we want?” 

Loki nodded his head to the side, too tired to smile. His attention narrowed. Brynjar pulled away from his fingers and sat down on his knees. “Perhaps we should give some time to the company of your comrades,” he said. Tony ignored him. “I wish to speak of it when you are ready.” 

Tony’s heart missed a beat. He knew what Loki was referring to. He also knew that he wasn’t going to be ready to talk about it. If it was already done and over with, maybe he could lay back on a couch and talk Loki’s ear off, but this was still happening. He was an immortal among mortals, and he didn’t want to talk about it. 

“I want to go somewhere fun,” Tony said. 

Loki coaxed Brynjar back to his hands and stroked the ram’s face. He brushed his thumb over the ram’s nose. Exhaustion was settling in. It had been a very long day, and he wanted very little else than peace. Tony’s attention dropped away. He kept one placating hand on Andor as he mentally ran through a checklist of upgrades he wanted to make on the suit. He lost track of time. 

Tony’s head lifted when he heard Loki move from his chair. 

Loki rose, gently setting Brynjar back into the enclosure. He held out his hand expectantly without looking away from the wood shavings lining the tank. Tony patted Andor’s back. Loki took the couple steps over and scooped the ram out of Tony’s lap and set him back into the enclosure. “To rest,” he said. 

“I think I need to work down here,” Tony said. 

Loki shrugged. He would not deny Tony time in his lab after today’s events. The man needed it to unwind. “Be back in a few hours,” Loki told him. Tony gave him a quiet nod as Loki faded away. 

The god morphed his shower into a claw footed tub and sank down into steaming water. An hour later, Tony appeared far ahead of schedule. He fought off what remained of his Asgardian attire and pushed his way into the bath. Loki’s arms folded around him. Tony settled over him. “Retired already?” Loki asked. 

“Planning sucks,” Tony muttered into his shoulder.


	52. A Gift

“What’s this?” Loki asked, eyeing the rather large machine that Tony had just hefted onto the kitchen table. Loki’s tea clattered in its saucer, spilling over the side as Tony turned the heavy thing around. 

Tony was pretending not to be impressed with himself, but his eyes were alight. “Thought I’d make something to take care of the little spat you’ve been having with Bruce.” 

Loki’s lips had been quirked and playful, but now they soured flat. “Little spat?” 

“You know,” Tony said, waving his hand around. “Taking from his tea bins. Whatever. Look at this,” he said, tapping at a touch screen. Twenty names appeared, all in runes. “Press one,” Tony said. “Wait, no, you think of one but don’t press anything.” He jogged back over to the cabinet and grabbed a mug. Loki’s finger floated above a selection, a smile dancing on his lips as he thought to press it anyway. “Don’t!” Tony scolded him, diving to place a mug on the slotted grate. 

Loki’s finger stayed in place as he grinned at Tony. “If you’re going to showoff your knowledge of runes, you should get all of the vowels right,” he said. 

Tony leaned down over him. “What? What’d I miss?” 

Loki flicked his fingernail at one of the symbols. “Damn it,” Tony muttered. 

“May I press one or are you going to hover about me all day?” 

“Press away,” Tony said. Loki selected a black tea. There was no sound at first, but then loose tea and boiling water came to life, twirling around in glass tubes meant to showcase them before the screen began reporting on ideal steeping times and temperature settings. It would be a few minutes before it was ready. Tony leaned his chest against Loki’s back, gripping the back of his chair. “So,” Tony said proudly. “No more stealing his tea stuff.” 

“What if it runs out of tea?” Loki asked. 

“Then you can presto-magic some more just like you could’ve been doing in the first place,” Tony said. His hands wandered up to Loki’s shoulders. 

“Did you make one for Bruce?” 

“Nope,” Tony said. “This is all yours.” He leaned down and whispered into Loki’s ear, “don’t tell him, alright? You’re kind of my favorite.” Loki chuckled as Tony’s stubble brushed against his cheek. 

“It will be difficult for him not to notice when it sits in a shared, communal tower kitchen,” Loki said, happy to snark rather than dwell on the soft, contented feeling in his chest. 

Tony hummed. “Don’t logic me,” he decided. He walked over to the cabinet and grabbed another mug for himself. He took the seat beside Loki. “Are you hopping around the art galleries again today?” 

Loki shook his head, taking his tea and placing Tony’s empty mug in its place. Tony happily selected extra sugar. “I may shop instead.” 

“Don’t forget to take my card,” Tony said. Loki nodded his head, taking a sip. “I’m about finished with the thrusters,” he said. “Maybe after tomorrow I’ll be finished up in the lab.” 

The elevator doors chimed open. Bruce walked into the room, still wearing his pajamas. He ignored them as he began to make his own tea. Bruce opened up a tin and set it down on the counter. He sleepily fished a spoon from the silverware drawer and set it beside the tin. As Bruce walked to the cabinet to get a mug, Loki’s eyes set on the spoon. 

When Bruce returned to pick it up, it would not move. He grabbed it a second time. His fingers flew off. For only a moment was he confused. “Haha,” Bruce said, turning around. Loki and Tony were trying their hardest not to smile. “You got me. Unstick the spoon,” Bruce said.

“Unstick?” Loki asked innocently.

“Come on Brucie, you can pick up a spoon,” Tony said. “But maybe the other guy can lend you some muscle. I mean, if you need some help getting it up.” 

Loki sniggered. Bruce rolled his eyes and started for the teakettle instead. Clint walked in just as Tony stifled a giggle. “They’ve stuck my spoon to the counter,” Bruce told Clint. 

“Seriously?!” Clint had been going for the fridge, but he took a few steps towards the table, placing himself between Bruce and them. “You two,” Clint started, voice rising. “Are a couple of kids. You just feed off each other,” Clint said, waving his hands around themselves. “Every time someone turns around you’re laughing about some stupid stunt. And so you know, turning all of my clothes into bird costumes was so lame. I’ve heard bird jokes, like, a thousand times.” His outburst only drove Loki and Tony’s muffled giggles on harder. There were tears at the corner of Loki’s eye from seeing Clint so worked up. “Whatever,” Clint announced. Tony and Loki had been pranking them like bratty children since they’d gotten back. Everyone was getting used to it. He turned around and went to open the fridge.

It was stuck. 

Tony’s laughter filled the room. 

“UUUuuugghhh!” Clint groaned. “I’m going out to eat. Bruce? Wanna join?” 

Bruce smiled hesitantly. “I’m not really ready to go out,” he said. 

“I’ll do drive through,” Clint said. Bruce shook his head. “Fine. Unstick everything,” he told Loki. “And you. Quit enabling him.” 

Tony acted confused, pointing at Bruce and miming a question. Loki’s laughter grated on Clint’s nerves. “Couple of overgrown nerds,” Clint muttered. He grabbed a drink from the newly unstuck fridge. “I’m going to be doing grownup respectable adult things if you need me,” he said. 

“Thanks, but we don’t need a show,” Tony said. 

Clint paused to think that through. “You are out of control,” he said. Loki choked on his tea. The elevator doors chimed shut behind Clint. 

“He’s no fun,” Tony said. 

Bruce sighed. He huffed, like he was about to say something, but the just shuffled back over the elevator with his tea. “Bruce?” Tony asked. The man hit the down button and waited, staring at Tony. “You wanna help me out in the lab today?” 

“Today’s not a good day,” Bruce said. The doors opened and he stepped in. “Maybe a little later.” As he disappeared behind the doors, Tony turned to Loki. 

“I think he’s avoiding me.”

“Or perhaps he is just tired,” Loki suggested. “Or wishes to reprimand you for that prank.”

“No,” Tony said. “He’s avoiding me.” He stared at the door with frown, missing the nonplused look Loki was giving him. Tony got up from the chair. “I’ll be down in the lab,” he said. He left his mug on the table. 

Loki began to play with the electronic menu on the machine that Tony had made just for him. As he toyed with its settings, he mentally mapped out where he’d spend the day exploring. 

 

When Loki got back that evening, the suit was in pieces. Tony was standing in the middle of the lab, swearing as he reworked something. Andor and Brynjar noticed Loki before Tony did, their tiny cries filling the room as they crowded the closest corner of their enclosure. Tony’s attention went to them, and then he noticed Loki. “Circuitry problem,” Tony said. “Fried a bunch of stuff.” He finished something up really quickly before setting the part down and making a beeline to Loki. He was about to say something when he noticed Loki’s new suit jacket. “And where’ve you been today?” Tony asked, suddenly smiling and lively. He grabbed Loki’s front lapel and peeked inside. “Armani, huh?” 

Loki smirked, not bothering to redo the button that Tony had caused to slip undone. He left the jacket wide open. “Here,” he said, reaching into the side pocket. He set a small velvet box in Tony’s hand. 

“You got me something?” Tony asked. He grinned, raising his eyebrows. “What is it?” He nudged Loki with his shoulder. 

“Just open it,” Loki said.

Tony popped the velvet box open to reveal a thin gold bar. There was a narrow inscription in Loki’s handwriting in the center. Freeing it from the soft bedding, Tony held the pin up closer to read it. _For clarity and insight._ “It’ll help you see connections as you’re working here,” Loki said. 

Tony let out a deep, satisfied breath. “Put it on me,” he said. Loki’s fingers slid along the inside of Tony’s palm before retrieving the pin and swiftly fixing it to Tony’s shirt collar. For a moment Tony was still. “Oh,” he said. He grinned, shaking his head. “I see what’s wrong with the circuitry now.” Tony’s fingers twitched. He wanted to get right back to fixing the suit, but he stole Loki for a kiss instead. “It’s perfect,” Tony said. 

“It only works for engineering projects,” Loki said, raising an eyebrow mischievously. Tony gave him a look before letting go and starting back towards the suit. Loki sat down in his computer chair. It only took seconds before Tony was absorbed back into his work. 

“Why are these files open?” Loki asked, voice sterner that before. “Tony?” He had to ask again to get Tony’s attention. “Why are these files open?” 

Tony twitched. He glanced over his shoulder. Tony’s expression fell back into the sullen one Loki had seen when he got back. “Bruce has opened them up fifty-eight times since I’ve been gone.” 

“He should not have seen them at all,” Loki said. 

“Yeah, well, you know what we were doing now,” Tony said. “And you knew then.” The far corner of Loki’s mouth twitched down. He leaned back in the chair, resting his arms out on the sides. “I just don’t know why he’s been going through them so much. I asked him to come down here. He said he’d be here after dinner.” 

“It is past then,” Loki said. He flicked one of the files aside, scanning through Tony’s attempts at engineering immortality. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He hissed a swear as he zapped his finger. 

Loki’s gaze wandered over the disheveled lab, the toes of one foot tapping. His eyes snapped back to Tony. “What will you tell him?” 

Tony’s head drooped down as he studied the piece he was working on. “What’s in that file,” Tony said lightly. Loki fell silent behind him. The god’s attention turned to watching Tony work as he mulled over his day. It was a comfortable, companionable quiet. Then the doors opened. 

Bruce walked in. He startled at seeing Loki, but recovered quickly. “You, uh, needed me?” 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He let Bruce walk up and inspect what he was working on. Tony told him a couple of things about the upgrades before casually throwing in, “I saw you looked through the research files we were working on last time. Did you come up with something new?” 

Bruce’s focus zeroed in on Tony, then darted to Loki. He hesitated, clearly reluctant to speak in front of Loki, but Tony wasn’t paying attention. He was working on the piece. “What are you two trying to do?” Bruce asked. It sounded accusatory. 

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed a split second before he reined it in, giving Bruce a slow, friendly glance of acknowledgement. “What do you mean?” Tony asked. Bruce took a deep breath. 

“I’m not stupid, I know you’re both up to something,” Bruce said. Everything he’d been holding back came in short, staccato allegations. “Something’s changed. I don’t know what it is, but something’s not right.” There was a flicker of green in his eyes. “You wanna tell me why meeting the parents was such an ordeal this time? You’ve already met them,” Bruce said. He spoke to Tony, ignoring Loki. 

Tony felt the color draining from his skin. 

“Why would they get upset this time? Unless you’re working on something they don’t like,” Bruce said. “Or you’re closer than you were before. You haven’t talked about it once since coming back, and it was the only thing you’d talk about last time.” 

Loki rose from his chair. He saw the sharp flickering in Bruce’s eye and the uncharitable distance between the potential Hulk and Tony. “You are as perceptible as ever, Dr. Banner,” he said calmly. He put himself between Bruce and Tony seamlessly, making it go unnoticed by either man. “We had left out that a particular circumstance had been changed,” he said. He had Bruce’s attention now. “You’ll recall that last time Tony’s physical body had been altered, yes?” 

Bruce swallowed, unable to look away from Loki. The god kept his green eyes cast downward, conversationally confessing something that he was reluctant to share. “We had the rather unfortunate circumstance of believing that Tony conceived during one of those times, and had informed my parents of as much.” Loki glanced up towards the ceiling. “We were mistaken. The ordeal of a potential grandchild and heir to the throne rather convinced my parents that my actions have been negligent, and Tony’s influence…unfavorable.” He felt Tony’s hand slip into his and wasn't sure if Tony was playing along or seeking comfort. “I apologize for not sharing that with you, Dr. Banner, but it was a rather private matter that is not entirely easy to discuss.” 

The energy had drained right out of Bruce. “I’m sorry,” he told Loki. He cast a worried look towards Tony. “Man, I am so sorry, I thought…” His words drifted off, lost. 

Loki cast him a kind, sympathetic look. “You concern is appreciated.” 

Bruce accepted that with a slow nod, frowning worriedly at Loki. “Bruce,” Tony said, voice fittingly emotional for the story they’d just told, “if I knew how to engineer immortality, I’d tell you.” 

“Yeah, no,” Bruce shrugged, snapping out of it. “Don’t worry about it.” He swallowed. “Are you okay, Tony? After that—”

“Yeah, fine,” Tony said. He grinned, laughing weakly. “Relieved, actually. These things happen with magic, you think it’s one thing, really another, that’s what you get for freaking magic—but it was the parents part that was hard. They kind of… Sorry Bruce, I should’ve made that more clear. Just…didn’t really feel like talking about it.” 

Bruce was covering his face with his fist, mortified. “I, uh, I’m sorry—”

“We’re good,” Tony said. “Why don’t you and I go out for lunch tomorrow? Loki and I were going to finish up a couple of things here, it’s getting late.” 

Bruce took the dismissal, grateful for it, no matter how weak Tony’s excuse was. 

Loki and Tony relaxed the moment he was gone, though their expressions remained serious as they exchanged several long sentences before Loki turned towards Tony with a grin. His fingers tapped against Tony’s chest as he said something, grinning, mood brighter. It was reflected by Tony. 

Then Tony took off the pin and carefully set it beside his tablet. “It’s hard to keep talking to you with that thing on,” Tony said. “I just keep seeing things I could be working on.” 

Loki grinned. “Are you certain that you can blame that on the pin?” 

Tony shook his head, grinning. “Let’s go get something to drink. I’ll drive.” 

“Avoiding the question, but I’ll allow it.” 

As they made their way to the garage, Tony slid his hand around Loki’s waist. For a moment the garage was peaceful and quiet, nothing but simple asphalt and parked cars with the echo of their footsteps, until Tony hit the automatic ignition of the flashiest car in the place. Its bright lights flooded the area, making them squint. “You always choose that one,” Loki commented. 

“You love it,” Tony said.


	53. Normal

Loki held his breath. It was the only tell he had, and it wasn’t particularly perceptible. The dealer gave him an assessing once over at the fifth consecutive winning hand before pushing several gold nuggets in Loki’s direction. Loki pocketed a card and slipped it, unnoticed, beneath the table where a small set of teeth grabbed it and ran off. 

Tony snatched the card from Andor’s teeth. He carefully combed through the fresh box of playing cards in his hand until he found the matching card. Tony took the following card in the stack and presented it to Andor’s eager mouth. The ram shot off through the gambling hall, unnoticed by the patrons. Adding the stolen card to the pile, Tony leaned back in his chair and took another drink. He’d never seen this type of playing cards before, but Loki knew what he was doing, and following his instructions was easy enough. 

Tony had plenty of time to get acquainted with the place that they were in. It wasn’t unlike Vegas, but with a hell of a lot less security and whatever life form was running it didn’t seem inclined to notice things like demonic sheep. Brynjar returned with a new card. Tony carefully swapped it out for another and threw the extra card in the pile. 

He was too far from Loki’s table to enjoy watching the young god swindle the place, but Tony was enjoying himself. Everyone’s tired eyes back on Earth had been looking at him a little too closely the last week he’d been there. He knew that Bruce had told them about had been said, but no one had confronted Tony yet. Either they were waiting for him to share his “news” or they had decided against saying anything. 

Or it may have been that they were weary after finding a morph living in the tower. It had taken them a few days to figure it out, with the creature shifting into caricatures of them and all, but eventually they’d figured the alien creature out. It had totally been Tony’s idea, but he let Loki take the blame for it. He’d been in stitches over the thing’s impression of Steve. He hadn’t been in the state to correct them. 

Andor came with two cards in his mouth. “Go time,” Tony told the ram. He opened a small bag that Andor happily jumped inside of. Tony shoved all of the cards into a second bag just as Brynjar came cantering over. Tony quickly helped him inside of the makeshift carrier beside Andor before slinging it over his shoulder, their heads popping out the sides with glinting eyes, as Tony hefted up the third bag from the floor. Just as he was ready to go, Loki appeared. 

He grabbed Tony’s hand and they made a dash for the door. “Cut that one a little close, huh?” Tony teased him even before they’d reached the door. 

“That one was a tad smarter than the last place,” Loki said. He threw the door open. They ran out into the street and caught their breath in an alleyway, laughing as soon as they could breathe. 

“So?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. Loki played at the hem of his sleeve until a small clutch came out. He unfastened the latch. 

Hundreds of gold nuggets caught the murky city light. Tony laughed. He opened up his third bag. Loki threw it inside with the others. “Another?” He asked Tony, voice neither enthused nor unwilling. Tony shook his head. 

“I think we’ve done enough damage for one night,” Tony said. 

“Hardly,” Loki said with a smirk. He reached over and slid the rams’s carrying case from Tony’s arm to set the strap against his own shoulder. Brynjar let out an eager squeal. “I think you have contributed enough to the world of crime for today,” Loki told the ram. 

“Don’t say it like that,” Tony said. “It was creative card playing.” Loki gave him an enthused look of disbelief, his eyes betraying the amusement he felt. “How long until the market opens?” Tony asked. Loki glanced up at the sky. 

“At least six hours.” He adjusted the weight of the bag against his shoulder. “I can think of a few things to do in that time. How about you?” 

“Can I go for the word play on that, because I really want to,” Tony said. 

“And who is to say that I didn’t make the play already?” He smirked.

“No way. You didn’t realize it until I said something,” Tony said. Loki stubbornly glanced to the side, smiling dismissively as if that didn’t obviously make him guilty. Tony hoisted the loot bag up higher and started walking down the alley way. “Let’s get back to ‘our’ place.” It felt good to be house squatting again, Tony had to admit. 

It felt like things were almost normal again, or as normal as a life spent hopping carelessly across realms could be. Tony didn't mention Asgard and Loki didn't say anything about Tony's mortal friends dilemma. 

Later, as Loki set the rams down onto the floor of an empty house and Tony's bags spilled cards and gold as they tipped over, Tony let a sense of ease slide over him. He almost enjoyed watching the little bastards attack the tablecloth of a small stand and knock a vase over. Loki smiled up at him from where he kneeled on the floor, the empty bag in his hands. He seemed to feel the same. 

 

“Isn’t it going to be a tiny bit suspicious when we show up with handfuls of this stuff and get everything we want?” Tony asked, happily tagging along behind Loki, the loot bag over his shoulder. Loki had brought the rams with them. Their beady eyes took in the bustling market stalls with ravenous appetite. 

“Of course it is,” Loki said cheerfully. “Which is why I have them,” he said, gesturing to the rams’s bag. “And in any event, no business minded vendor is going to turn down hard currency.” 

“I already see something I want,” Tony said. He brushed past Loki, leading the way to a metal smith’s shop. He pointed to a large, ornate crown. “Yeah. Totally getting that.” The vendor paused, then politely stated the cost of the item. It wasn’t even half of the gold they’d gambled out of the first pub. “No problem,” Tony said, digging into the bag just as Loki walked up. 

“And that sword,” was all that he said. 

The vendor quickly wrapped the sword in an embroidered cloth. Tony and Loki tucked their new things away in one of Loki’s dimensional pockets. They walked past a few food stalls. “The crown’s a classic,” Tony said. “But I have the feeling that there’s something unusual about that sword.”

“It was forged in Muspelheim,” Loki said. “I do not think the seller understood the full measure of its worth. That sword will withstand much in any realm.” 

“Not as cool as the crown,” Tony said without missing a beat. 

“How often am I going to wake and find you at the table, eating your morning meal in that thing?” 

“Not often enough,” Tony said. He grinned, taking a few quick steps ahead of Loki just to taunt him. “And who says that it’s going to be just me wearing it?” Loki’s mouth flopped into a flat line, eyes dimming. “Oh yeah,” Tony said. “And, don’t act like I wouldn’t have found you wearing it.” 

Loki stuck his nose up in the air ever so slightly. “I do not need some artisan’s toy crown, Tony, I am entitled to one.” 

“I am going to quote that at you later,” Tony said. 

“Oh look,” Loki said. “Is that not one of the convection ceramics you stole from my spell supplies?” Tony bristled, letting the obvious red herring go in favor of denial. 

“It’s not, that’s not what it is,” Tony said. He went over to the stall and picked up a ceramic pot, flipping it over and making the vendor nervous. “And I didn’t steal it,” Tony said, taking out a few gold pieces and buying the thing. “I borrowed it.” He gave Loki the little pot. “There. We’re even.” 

“Whatever do we need to be even for if you were only borrowing it?” Loki asked. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Either way,” he muttered. Loki purchased a few more things. Then he set his hands on Tony’s shoulders and guided him a few paces forward to another stall. How it had missed the man’s notice was beyond Loki. “Oh my god,” Tony blurted. 

“Leave something for me to purchase,” Loki said as Tony made grabby hands for a particularly provocative pair of pants. The stall was filled with lewd ensembles, not most of which would be suitable for a humanoid body, and various aphrodisiacs and toys. Loki had wandered away and come back for one of the gold filled clutches in Tony’s loot bag before Tony had made up his mind. Loki left again and returned just as Tony made his purchase. The rams’s muzzles were soaked in blood. 

“You’re spoiling them,” Tony said as he took his purchases and shoved them into the magic bag. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “And you’re not spoiled?” He asked. 

“Pfffft.” Tony started for the next stall. “Weren’t you going to get one of those rock things?” Loki paused, trying to place what Tony meant. A particular crystal.

“As soon as we see one,” Loki said. 

“Well let’s find that first so we don’t run out of cash before we get it,” Tony said. “I want to buy that weather vane looking thing over there, and I’m not even sure what it does.” 

Loki laughed. “Purchase it then,” he said. “This currency isn’t good anywhere else.” 

 

It was hours before they finished their loot, and their luck held out until the last moment. As the last nugget was exchanged for a pair of socks (they looked like what Jarvis would wear, were he human, Tony insisted) a dealer from the night before recognized them. They ran down several rows of stalls, laughing as they sprinted, Brynjar and Andor bouncing in the bag against Loki’s hip and mewling in their own form of laughter, just for the hell of it before Loki grabbed Tony’s hand and they disappeared. 

Things were finally normal again, Tony decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little chapter. I'm curious, do people tend to lean more towards favoring Tony or favoring Loki? (in general, not just this fic, maybe the answers are different for that)


	54. Don't Pass Go

Tony meandered his way down to his new lab. Loki had said that they were only stopping at the castle to pick something up and then they’d be leaving, but Tony felt like booting the lab up. Just to admire it a bit. 

It felt like ages since they’d crashed at the castle. It was probably the closest to home that they had, not counting the tower, and sometimes more so when Tony felt out of place on Earth. “It’s nice to stretch my legs again,” Jarvis said as the lab illuminated to life. 

“Yeah, well it’s just a quick pit stop so go to the bathroom before we leave,” Tony said. “We’re not stopping again for you.” 

“No promises,” Jarvis said as Tony sat down in his chair. He leaned back, just sort of dazed as he admired all of the alien tech he’d accumulated in this place. His old lab had its charms too, and far more memories, but this lab felt like there was something waiting right on the horizon. “Shall I sync everything?” 

Tony rubbed his eye. “Where’s Loki?” 

“He appears to be reading letters from the post box here.” 

“No one told me we had a mailbox,” Tony said. He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, go ahead and sync and do backups.” He got up from the chair. 

“With all of the accumulated data, it will take approximately thirty minutes.” 

“Go for it,” Tony said. “We’ve probably got time,” he said as he went for the door. He was mildly impressed with himself and Jarvis for collecting so much. Thirty minutes was impressive, especially considering what Jarvis was capable of in this lab. 

Tony found Loki at the dining table, furiously dictating a letter to a frantically scratching pen. He took a seat and leaned back in his chair as Loki hissed out a guttural, “ _if you would only notice_.” He glanced at Tony and give him a cordial, patient _I’ll be right with you_ look as his lips uttered a particularly nasty string of complaints. There were several letters from golden sealed envelopes in a pile beside Loki. Before he finished the letter, Tony figured out that it was destined for his mother. Loki ended the letter with a pedantic “your son,” freeing the overwrought pen from its binding. As it clattered to the table, he primly folded the letter over and stuffed it inside of a red envelope. 

His fingers sparked dark blue over the seal. “That’ll make sure she listens to it,” Loki muttered. He turned to Tony with a sunny smile. “Ready to go?” 

Tony didn’t budge. “That was a howler,” he said. 

“I think it bellowed more than howled,” Loki said. “But it will get the point across.” He shuffled the torn open envelopes and letters into a single pile, pulling them apart and lining them up into one stack. 

“Does it read itself out loud?” Tony asked. 

Loki glanced at him. “Yes,” he said, somewhat pleased with Tony’s perception. 

“Then it’s totally a howler,” Tony said triumphantly. “You know, Harry Potter?” Loki’s lips pulled back in a flat, sour line. “Remember, that part where they’re all eating in the dining hall and there’s that letter—”

“I still resent you for forcing me to watch that,” Loki said. Tony had been treated to Loki’s rants on the nature of magic and his disdain for the film on several occasions. The books were similarly a lost cause. “And how a man of your maturity is entertained by the plights of eleven year old children…” 

“It’s a pop culture necessity,” Tony told him. Loki raised a disbelieving eyebrow, taunting him. “You made me watch that weird snake movie.” 

“It is not a _weird snake movie_ , it is a cultural treasure.” Tony rolled his eyes as Loki shook his head, both dismissing the other. Loki left the letters on the table and snatched up the red one. He swept out of the room to stick the letter in the mail. Tony’s eyes settled on the opened letters. Part of him really wanted to read them, and the other part was perfectly content not knowing the bleak reality. Before one side could win over the other, Loki reappeared at the doorway. His eyes settled on Tony with a knowing glint. “They are not anything you haven’t already heard,” he said. 

Tony didn’t answer. Loki grasped the pile between his hands and made it disappear. “If they are blind to your worth then they are even greater fools than I take them to be,” Loki said. He walked over and set his hand on the back of Tony’s chair. “Shall we depart?” 

“Jarv?” Tony asked. 

“Five minutes.” 

Loki didn’t have to ask what for. He simply took the seat beside Tony and snapped his fingers. The rams appeared in their carrying case, along with a smaller bag. “What’s next?” Tony asked. 

“A dwarfish dwelling in an area overflowing with magic,” Loki said. He smirked. “Perhaps you can pretend that you are Harry Potter.” Tony scoffed at him. “This is my first time there as well. Fortunately, it appears that there are several unoccupied estates to choose from.” 

Tony drummed his fingers against the table, waiting on Jarvis. Brynjar let out a displeased bleat from his bag. “You sure you want those two around extra magic?” Tony asked. 

Glancing over his shoulder, Loki answered, “If it were an issue for them, this place certainly wouldn’t be hospitable.” Tony didn’t second guess him out loud, but the skeptical look on his face was familiar enough. “Do you wish to inform me on the intricacies of their spell work? Perhaps you know better?” He prodded Tony. 

“I’ll stick to Hogwarts stuff, thanks.” 

When they appeared in the house several minutes later, Loki knelt to the floor and released the rams from their bag. The floor tiles were made of dark stone, with shallow lines carved into the surfaces, creating complex geometric patterns. Loki brushed his hands off as Andor cantered down a hall. Brynjar pawed at Tony’s leg. 

Ignoring him, Tony scanned the building. The hall they’d landed in lead to several archways with dimly lit hallways beyond. The same geometric patterns as the floor were repeated on the walls. “Shall we choose where we will rest tonight?” Loki asked Tony with a sly smile. 

Brynjar let out a loud bleat. “You’re letting me have the honors? I must’ve done something good—” Tony’s line was interrupted by a louder, more pathetic bleat. “What?” Tony asked. “Don’t look at me. Go play with your friend.” Brynjar ruffled his fur, making it puff out as he cried loudly. Lost, Tony looked to Loki. The god’s eyes were set on the crying ram. “What is it?” 

Loki’s brows flinched. He wasn’t any more certain than Tony. “You can find your companion. Go. Try,” Loki said. Brynjar huffed at him, then turned back and cried at Tony. 

“I’ve never seen him like this,” Tony said. He took a step to the side and the ram followed. “It’s starting to give me the creeps.” 

“Don’t be superstitious, Stark. We’re fine,” Loki said. “Perhaps if he sees us move he will settle down.” Loki took a step further down the hall. “Come.” He waited for Tony to walk up alongside him. Tony’s eyes were glued to the long shadows cast down the hallways. 

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Tony said. 

Loki held his head up higher, the odd lighting exaggerating the sharper features of his face. “It’s nothing.” Tony’s ears strained for the slightest noise. He heard nothing but their footsteps echoing against the stone and Brynjar’s clicking hooves. The ram was plastered to his ankle. “I do hope that their security is lax on their inventory. I’ve been looking for a certain plant for ages—”

“That’s why you picked it,” Tony said flatly. “Because you wanted something here.”

  “That’s not all,” Loki said appeasingly. He stepped in closer to Tony, ghosting a finger across his shoulders. The man was oblivious to him. He was too focused on Brynjar’s odd behavior and the eerie silence for the ordinarily successful trick to work. “Tony,” Loki said. The man’s head snapped towards him. They stopped walking. Loki smiled, raising his eyebrows. “You’re not frightened, are you?” 

Tony gave him an unimpressed glare. “No,” Tony said. “Just suspicious.” 

Loki’s arm slipped over his shoulders. Leaning into Tony, he spoke quietly as his freehand teased its way along Tony’s tight chest. “Good. Because I hear there are spiders and snakes in these corridors.” He leaned in close to Tony’s ear. “And those are the kind, good things.” 

“Knock it off!” Tony said, batting away his hand but not slipping from his grip. The arm was reassuring, even if it wasn’t intended to be. Brynjar pressed in tighter. Loki’s laughter echoed down the hall. 

He leaned in closer, whispering in Tony’s ear again. “I haven’t told you of the wretched things that wandered down these halls eons ago, when you were just particles, waiting to be. The things these monsters could do, Tony, they would frighten you to your core—” Loki’s dark voice danced along playful and sinister. 

“Loki,” Tony snapped. “Knock it off.” Brynjar cried, rubbing against Tony’s ankle imploringly. 

At Tony’s tone, Loki leaned back and looked into his eyes. “I only jest,” he said. 

“It’s not funny,” Tony said. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Loki said, curling his hand around the back of Tony’s skull and massaging his fingers into Tony’s hair, eyes still dancing with delighted mischief. There was one long wail from Brynjar. It echoed down the hall. Then red lights began to flash. 

Loki grasped on tightly to Tony. Brynjar crawled up Tony’s pants leg as a yell was ripped from him. They were sent flying down the hall, pulled by an invisible force, too quickly to make sense of anything. Something slammed into Tony’s back. Loki fell down on top of him as he slid to the floor. “What the hell is this,” Tony wheezed, heart racing. Other than having the wind knocked out of him, he was fine.

“Damn it,” Loki hissed out, almost too quiet for Tony to hear. Ordinarily Tony would tease him for it, but this time he was overtaken by fury. 

“Nothing, huh?” 

They were staring at a line of metal bars. What could only be assumed to be a toilet was in the corner of the very small room. Loki rose, keeping his back to Tony. The man did not get up from the floor. “Yeah, so I’m guessing that your parents aren’t going to want to bail us out, and both of mine are dead, so we’d better think of someone else for our one phone call.” 

“Does this look like a civilization that uses phones to you?” Loki asked, turning back to Tony to deliver the quip. Tony just rolled his eyes. With a sharp breath Loki re-approached the bars. They were reinforced by magic, and would be difficult to break without the proper tools. Tony shooed Brynjar out of his pants leg. The ram was perfectly content now, and happy to purr in the center of the floor. 

A polite, inanimate voice spoke. “For trespassing and planned thievery you will be held until the master’s return. The fourth member of your party is being held in another detainment location and will be reunited with you in the unlikely event of emancipation.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, fingers clenching in his crossed arms. “When’s that?” Tony asked behind him. 

“Easily fifty years,” Loki said. “Punctuality is not a concern of theirs, and they have no intention to see us to trial in any event.”

For a moment, they were quiet. When Tony realized that Loki wasn’t at all upset by that announcement he asked, “so why aren’t we poofing out of here?” 

“I do wish to get Andor back,” Loki said irritably. 

“Okay, so let’s poof out of this cell, into that one, and then get the fuck out of here,” Tony said simply, as if the answer were obvious. 

“That is not how it works,” Loki said. Tony knew that tone. It was the _one step further, Tony, and you’ll be sleeping on the roof_ voice. But he was annoyed by Loki’s earlier antics, and of course, the whole being in a jail cell thing. 

“Why not?” Tony asked, just to be a dick. 

“The magic here makes it difficult to discern what I am aiming for—” As he spun around to layout the finer mechanics of spell casting, he found Tony’s smug grin beaming back up at him. 

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry about it, we’re just stuck here for fifty years because I can’t listen to Tony—”

Loki started at the same time. “The one time you listen to that creature’s mewling is the one time that I am incorrect—”

“I’m just gonna make fun of Tony’s sound, proper reasoning,” Tony said, mocking him. “Just to be a dick. There are snakes here, haha. What’s this? A jail? Oops.” 

“Shut up,” Loki said. Glowering, he turned back towards the bars, set on ignoring Tony and his childish taunts. 

Tony got up from the ground and took a few steps closer to Loki. It didn’t leave much room in the cell. “I’m not up for rotting away in this cell,” Tony said. He smiled a little wryly. “Brynjar will be okay without a buddy.” 

“No,” Loki said. “Allow me to think of a plan without your needless yapping.” 

Tony sighed loudly. He scooped Brynjar off the ground and ran a hand through his curls, giving his polished iron faceplate a hopeless stare. Loki didn’t see. Tony watched the god’s shoulders grow tight, the stolen cotton t-shirt of Tony’s straining where Loki’s dark locks didn’t hide it. “Maybe he’ll show up on his own,” Tony suggested. “Or should we just blast a hole in this place?” 

“It’s reinforced,” Loki said. “There are repercussions. It is no easy task without the right tools.” He began to pace back and forth, studying the structure. “Leaving and reentering in the hopes of finding Andor’s cell is an option,” he said. “But not helpful. In the event that we are caught a second time, I cannot imagine there being any mercy such as this for us.” He bent down and scratched at the furthest bar. It burned. His hand retreated to be caressed by the other as he resumed his short pacing. 

“We’ll take them all down then,” Tony said. “I’ll get the suit, you can get your horns—”

“There is no need for such pageantry,” Loki said. “This is a simple matter once I figure it out. It cannot be that complex.” 

“Oh-kay,” Tony said. He sat back down, fluffing Brynjar’s fur until the ram head butted him back. “Seems like you’re going kind of easy on them, though,” Tony said as if he were also thinking aloud. “If I were in the other cell—”

“If you were in the other cell then they would already be dead,” Loki said dully, as if it were a matter of fact. Tony scooted a fraction of an inch away from him. “I will use simpler means for my pet.” He glanced back at Tony. “I can be merciful,” he said, both arrogant and playful. 

“You could’ve set me up to call me your pet with that, but you didn’t,” Tony said. “If I weren't pissed at you I’d be impressed.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Loki laid his hand on the wall, turning his attention back to the task at hand. He slipped into concentration and turned oblivious to Tony. 

“Andor will show up on his own,” Tony said. “He’s torn a hole through our houses enough times.” When he realized that Loki wasn’t listening, he sighed and leaned his head back, accidentally smacking it into the wall. “Fuck,” Tony muttered. “I’m going to bring this up again,” Tony said. He lifted Brynjar up. “I’m going to rub it in his face, aren’t I?” Brynjar squeaked happily, kicking his little legs in the air. “As long as we get out of here.” Tony stared at the back of Loki’s head, but it made no difference. 

Twenty minutes later they heard the clicking of little hooves and looked up to see Andor outside the bars. He let out a happy cry. 

The look on Loki’s face was priceless. Tony had only caught it in profile, but he’d remember it for years to come. Immediately he began to laugh. “The ram’s a better jail breaker than you are!” 

Loki stood up straight, bristling at that. “The cells are not designed with such small creatures in mind.” 

“Bullshit!” Tony exclaimed. Loki turned a faint tint of pink even as he glowered. Brynjar ran across the cell, calling to his friend. Happily, Andor took a bite out of the first bar and pulled. Molten sparks of magic spilled out. They had little effect. Once there was a reasonably sized hole pried open, the ram squeezed itself inside. “You’re supposed to let us **out** ,” Tony said. “Not get in here with us.” 

Loki knelt down and grabbed Tony’s hand. “You’re forgetting something,” he said. He flipped the flap of the bag open and the two rams ran inside as he stared at Tony. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony said. “I thought you wanted to hang out here.” 

“I have changed my mind,” Loki said. 

Tony rolled his eyes, but it turned into a grin. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” 

As he felt Loki’s familiar magic surge through him, his only thought was of what trouble they would get into next.


	55. The Wrong Kind of Trouble

Tony fell into the bed, slamming his back against the hard mattress. He hardly registered the unpleasant sensation in his tipsy state, but with Loki landing on him not a moment later, he forgot anyway. Loki’s nose wormed its way into the crook of his neck until Tony laughed. Loki’s breath was hot and shallow against him. “This never would’ve happened if you’d just kept your mouth shut,” Tony said. He couldn’t resist rubbing it in. 

“Stark,” Loki slurred. He dug one hand between Tony’s arm and chest, wedging it between the man and the mattress as his other hand loosely gripped Tony’s shoulder. His eyes rolled back shut. 

Tony’s hand combed through his hair, easing the spin. Loki wanted him to never stop. “Tell me if you’re going to throw up.” 

“It’s not…so severe,” Loki whispered, unwilling to part from the coveted spot against Tony’s neck. Tony’s fingers rubbed little circles before resuming their even stroking. “Tony.” 

“Hmm?” He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the pillow. He wasn’t even half as drunk as Loki, and with a far better tolerance as it was, Tony suspected that he was going to be sober before long. “Loki,” he prompted. Something was muttered against his neck. Tony started to move to get them upright, but Loki fought that. 

He pinned Tony to the bed, forgetting their far more closely proportioned weight and strength differences now that Tony had taken the apple. Tony sort of slumped back down, hovering on the edge of pushing Loki back as he questioned his own judgment. Satisfied, Loki immediately resumed his prior position. He tilted his head just enough that Tony could hear him. “I could have won.” His limp hair fell against his face.

“You could’ve also gotten alcohol poisoning if I hadn’t stepped in,” Tony said, anger flickering across his voice. “I told you playing that guy was a bad idea and you didn’t listen.” Loki didn’t have a rebuttal for that. He wedged his nose back against Tony’s neck and made an odd whine that he was too inebriated to suppress. “Loki,” Tony said with a hard sigh. The twirling of Tony’s fingers in his hair satisfied him way too much to feel reprimanded. “You can’t just walk into any bar you want and win against anyone there. You’re going to lose sometimes.” 

“It’s Alfenheim,” Loki said, a slight growl in his voice. 

“And that means?” Tony paused. Then he chuckled. Either Loki had decided it wasn’t worth educating him on, or he was wrong and not going to admit it. “Yeah,” Tony said. “Something tells me that even with the age gap, I’ve still played more games of quarters than you.” He scratched his nails against Loki’s scalp, eliciting a groan. “Anyway, leave the drinking games up to me from now on.” Tony reached over to the bedside table for one of the waters he’d set there. 

Loki groaned and held on at the unwelcome movement. Tony jostled him as he sat up to drink. “You should probably drink some more—” Tony started. 

“I lived with Thor, you think I never play—” Tony nudged the glass against his lips. Loki glared but accepted, taking the glass with his own hand before swallowing some down and setting it back over on the table. It teetered before falling over and spilling on the floor. He closed his eyes and blindly settled back against Tony, but he wasn’t as comfortable now that Tony had changed positions. 

Tony’s hand pushed at his chest. In a split second, that wrecked the fragile balance of emotions in Loki’s state. He buried his face into Tony’s neck, his chest heaving with a hard breath, barely fighting against the meltdown he wanted to have. Tony was oblivious. “I’m as hot as hell, you need to move—” His hands found their way to Loki’s shoulders and pushed. Tony pivoted his hips away, landing in the cool half of the bed. “And I need to clean that up, hey you’re—” Tony’s voice stopped abruptly as he noticed Loki’s face. “Hey,” Tony said. 

Loki said nothing and resumed the position he had been in before, burying his face. Tony’s fingers found their way back into his hair. “What’s—” Tony started. He wasn’t sure if he should continue. Loki answered the unfinished question anyway. 

Loki sat up, face pale except for his ruddy cheeks, his hair flattened around his head. He looked awful. Tony frowned, meeting his eyes with wary concern. “I have wounded you so recently and now I have erred again,” Loki half-spoke, half-mumbled. He sloppily placed one hand against the side of Tony’s face. His eyebrows twitched as his pitying green eyes stared into Tony. He opened his mouth to speak, but forgot the words. 

“You’re fine Lokes,” Tony said. He grabbed Loki’s clammy hand and guided it back towards the bed. “We’re fine. Let me clean up your mess—”

“No,” Loki said hard, dragging out the word. Tony smiled. 

“Loki,” he said, talking as if to a small child. “One of us is going to forget that’s there and bust our ass falling on the floor in the middle of the night, just let me go for five seconds and then you can go back to impersonating an octopus.” Loki sat back and smacked his own hand against his face, trying to rub his eye. Tony took advantage of the moment to slip free. He was rifling through the bathroom and coming back with a towel in seconds. The one thing he liked about Alfenheim was that it was easy to figure out the layouts of buildings. 

He dropped the towel on the floor, watching the water soak the fabric. “Tony,” Loki said, a question in the word. 

“Yeah?” Tony asked, bending down and wiping the rest up. He felt a hand dart along his back. When he stood up with the soaked towel, Loki was staring down at the bed. Tony paused, taking the sight of him in. He took in a slow breath. “You really don’t look good, Lokes.” He twisted the towel in his hands. Jarvis had tested Loki’s levels and assured Tony that Loki was in for nothing worse than a terrible hangover, but Tony still didn’t like it. After a moment Tony realized that it was because he wasn’t used to seeing Loki unwell. Not often. “Where do you keep the little hangover cure bottle you always fed me, huh?” 

Loki pointed in the vague direction of his tool chest. Tony walked over and flipped open the lid. He recognized the blue bottle immediately. Tony grabbed a spoon and filled it. He went to the side of the bed and held it beside Loki’s mouth. For once the god didn’t fight him on the matter. Instead he swallowed the medicine and bit the spoon. Without commenting on that, Tony took the spoon back and put everything away, grabbing the wet towel he’d abandoned and tossing it in the bathroom sink. When he came back, Loki was sprawled out on the bed. “I don’t want to hear you bitching in the morning about the hangover,” Tony said. “I know it’s not a cure-cure, but it’ll make it easier. Always does for me, at least.” He sat down on the bed and reached out to stroke his hand through Loki’s hair. 

“I’ll be fine,” Loki muttered. “Cease your incessant—” He let the thought drop and rolled over. There was something nagging at him, and his emotions had flipped three times in the last couple of minutes. There was something that he’d forgotten to say. Something important. “Tony.” 

Tony’s hand in his hair stilled. “Tony.” 

“What?” Tony asked, not expecting an answer. 

“I’m sorry.” Surprise painted Tony’s face. He tried to cover it up, but it was too late. Loki reached a hand back and brushed a finger along the man’s knee. Loki was having the conversation in his head, thinking that it was out loud. When Tony spoke it surprised him. 

“Sorry about what,” Tony said, apprehensive. 

Loki looked away from him. “—spilled water, and not telling you.” He sloppily rolled over and pushed himself to sit up, slumping his hips against Tony’s thighs and grabbing the man’s shoulder to stay balanced. 

“Telling me what?” 

Loki took a deep breath through his nose, sniffing. The hand that wasn’t holding him up rubbed at his nose. His head slumped towards Tony’s shoulder and stayed there. Tony’s hand came around his back to keep him up. “What, Lokes?” 

“Everything,” Loki mumbled. “My mother and Asgard and how I felt.” As he said the words, he knew he’d never utter them sober. He probably wouldn’t even remember this, but that wobbly feeling from before was back in his chest, and Tony’s shoulder felt good against his cheek. In the back of his mind he thought he was going to vomit, but didn’t really register that thought. 

Tony’s hand rubbed a soothing circle against his back. “We talked about that, Loki. We’re fine, remember?” Tony spoke softly. He was beyond teasing. He wasn't prepared to deal with the realization that Loki was dragging some guilt around. All he wanted was for Loki to calm down so that he would rest and get better. “We’re good.” 

“Why do you always do that?” Loki asked, voice hard and angry. 

Tony’s hand came to a rest on his hip. “Do what?” He asked, reflecting none of Loki’s anger. 

Loki answered in a quiet voice that broke in the middle. “Forgive me.” 

“Because I love you,” Tony said plainly, deciding that it was time to take control of the situation. He gently guided Loki down towards the bed. “Now you are going to sleep this off because if you remember that you were making out with your feelings and ‘sentimentality’ when the morning comes, I am going to have to deal with it.” He moved Loki’s legs, arranging him in the bed so that there would be room for them both. “And it won’t be fun. Seriously,” Tony said, exasperated. “If you don’t pick a fight with me it’ll be some poor bastard.” 

Loki turned his head to the side, watching Tony bend down to grab the sheets at the foot of the bed. “No one does,” he said. 

“Oh, you’ll find someone to fight, I’m sure,” Tony said. He got onto his side, pulling the covers over them both. 

Loki didn’t move. “No one but you.” 

“Don’t promise me a fight,” Tony said, grabbing Loki and pulling him in against his chest. “I hate repairing the armor, you always dent it when we spar and half the time I can’t figure out what the hell you did to wreck it anyway.” He wrapped his arm along Loki’s back. “Prime cuddle room right here.” 

Loki stared at the pillow beneath Tony, registering the warm arm along his back and the way Tony’s legs had tangled in with his own. “Tony,” he said, grasping onto the word again. Tony hadn't been listening to him. The question hadn’t been answered and it was back in his head. “Why did you forgive me?” 

“I already told you,” Tony muttered, starting to get irritated. He didn’t like sloppy emotional drunk Loki. It felt like playing a dangerous game that he was destined to lose. “Now go to bed.” 

If nothing else, Loki recognized that tone of voice. He wanted to contradict it solely on impulse. He had to find what Tony had already said first, though. He wracked through his muddled thoughts. “Because you love me,” Loki muttered, low and dark. 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said crisply, heart beating a little faster. 

Suddenly Loki giggled. Tony squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't keep up. “I love you too,” Loki said, bright and happy. He pushed Tony away, pulling out of his arms and sitting up in the bed. He slapped his hand against Tony’s arm, probably harder than he’d intended. “Let us depart, Stark,” he announced with bravado. “To the nine realms—”

Tony grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. “Would you be quiet?” Tony whispered. Loki’s head hit the pillow with a peculiar laugh. “All of the nine are going to hear you.” Loki laughed, kicking in the bed and rolling over onto his back. Tony rolled onto his stomach and silently prayed that Loki would go to sleep. He felt two fingers on his back. Walking. “Loki,” Tony warned. 

“I know something,” he murmured, voice suddenly right beside Tony’s ear. He had gotten onto Tony’s pillow. 

“What?” Tony muttered into the pillow. 

Loki’s arms curled around him. He nosed his way back into the crook of Tony’s neck until Tony rolled over, deciding that was the easiest thing to do. “Would you care to know?” Loki asked. 

“I don’t see how I’m going to get out of it,” Tony said, setting his hand on the small of Loki’s back. 

The next words came with more pride than Tony had ever heard in his life. “Thor is jealous of me.” 

Loki laughed, the words ringing in his ears as he shifted against Tony, digging his fingers along the man’s soft cotton shirt. “Yeah?” Tony asked, distant. Loki couldn’t decide whether he wanted to pick up his spinning head and announce it as loud as he could or say it into Tony’s chest like the juicy secret that it was. 

He went for the first. 

“Because I have you.” He rolled onto his back and moved so that his head was on Tony’s chest, splaying his arms open wide. “My mortal is blessed.” He rolled back over, unaware that he jabbed his elbow in Tony’s stomach. He crawled up so that he could speak into Tony’s face, his breath drifting across the man’s stubbled beard. “I am free to travel the realms with you, and he envies me.” Loki had been holding that in for weeks. It felt so good to gloat out loud. 

Tony’s hands directed him back against Tony’s chest. He settled contentedly. “Can’t believe you haven’t said anything before now,” Tony said. 

“He was defending me,” Loki muttered. “I saw.” He felt Tony’s hands in his hair again. Finally. He’d been wanting that for the past ten minutes. It was about time that Tony caught on. 

Tony sighed. He didn’t want to get Loki started on the topic of Thor. He quietly filed it away under something to be indirectly felt out later. Loki knew Thor was envious, and had sympathy for him. Tony wasn't really surprised. He brushed Loki’s hair away from his face. The god’s bright eyes were still on him. 

Loki grinned, sharp and feral. “Good night,” Tony said, trying to distract him. Whatever had been playing in Loki’s eyes calmed down for a moment. 

“Good night,” he mirrored. He stared into Tony, eyes dancing like he’d won something. “My Tony.” 

“There it is,” Tony muttered. He combed both of his hands back through Loki’s hair. “I think you’re fine now,” Tony said. “So go to sleep.” He closed his eyes to set an example. A few seconds later he felt Loki settle against his chest. 

It was wonderfully quiet for a few moments. Then he heard it. “Mine,” Loki whispered, falling into sleep. 

_Yeah, you greedy bastard,_ Tony thought, massaging his hand against Loki’s back. It earned him a few sloshy, whispered praises from the half-asleep god. As Tony followed him into sleep, he made a mental note to keep Loki out of the bars for a while. This was not the kind of trouble that they were after.


	56. One of Six

Loki stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his face with a slack hand as Tony glanced up from his tablet. He’d been awake for five hours already. Jarvis and he had been in the midst of a congenial debate when Tony’d heard the bedroom door creak open. Loki reluctantly cast an obstinate glance his way. “Last night,” Loki said, standing still. “Did I—” He clearly loathed that he was asking, and Tony wasn’t about to let any reaction show on his face. “Say something?” 

Tony held Loki’s gaze. He’d learned that the best way to lie to Loki (and live, preferably) was to be certain that there was no hesitancy in his answers, no room for doubt. Loki was an excellent liar, but Tony was learning. “You mean besides how nice you think my ass is?” Tony asked, reaching for his coffee and keeping it natural. 

Loki stared at him for a moment and then relaxed, his shoulders drooping down as his tension uncoiled. He shuffled over to the cabinets and began raiding the unfamiliar kitchen for something to eat. “Oh,” Tony said, perking up. He never let Loki off that easily. “You did say that you were going to take me somewhere to get new metal for my suit.” 

“I most certainly did not,” Loki drawled, unwrapping what appeared to be a fruit pastry. He took a bite and then decided it was worth bringing over to the table. Tony was still looking at him expectantly. Loki held that stare for a moment before rolling his eyes and taking another bite. Naturally, Tony would press his luck. Loki chose to ignore him and the poorly constructed lie about his suit. He pressed a clammy head to his throbbing forehead. “I won’t be taking you anywhere today,” he stated, just to get the look out of Tony’s eye. 

“Boring,” Tony said, getting up from the table. 

Loki twisted around in his chair. “Where are you going?” 

“I’m not going to sit around in here all day, and now that you’re clearly up and breathing, I’m going out.” 

“How many times must I remind you that it is unwise for you—”

Tony tapped his fingernails against the golden cuff on his wrist. He was wearing it again. “Are you telling me that you didn’t make this well?” 

Loki’s lips thinned. Challenging his craftsmanship was a low ploy, but it might work anyway. “I didn’t intend it for Alfenheim.” 

“Yet something tells me that it’ll still work,” Tony said. He grabbed his jacket off of a counter and started in the direction of the exit. “Don’t worry. I’ve got the buddy system. Jarvis is with me. He can call you if something’s up.” 

The pounding in Loki’s head won out little by little. Tony paused just before he left Loki’s sight with a familiar smile on his face. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Drink some water, you look like hell froze over.” 

“Do not accept any offers that appear to be free, or befriend any with an insignia over their left breast. I won’t bother to rescue you if you do,” he finally advised, deciding that was far easier and preferable than standing up to the mortal’s stubborn streak with this headache. Tony waved goodbye. Loki went back to eating. 

 

Tony showed back up a few hours tossing a green sphere up in the air and catching it repeatedly as he walked in. “I got this for you,” Tony said, speaking far too loudly for his taste. Loki sluggishly leaned up from the couch to see what he was going on about.

“I explicitly told you _not_ to take anything.” 

“That appeared to be free,” Tony said smoothly. That he had listened, and could be bothered to quote it perfectly, impressed and therefore annoyed Loki. Tony spun the sphere on his finger like a basketball. It fell to the floor, ruining the cool image he’d been going for. Tony laughed it off. He bent down and grabbed it as Loki snickered. “Some kids were fighting over it. They didn’t look like they were up to any good, so I took it.” 

“You took it,” Loki said. He gave Tony a slow, condescending and teasing look. “Do you think you’re up to any good?” Tony rolled his eyes. Loki extended his arm over the back of the couch for the sphere. “You don’t even know what it does.” 

“Don’t think that I haven’t had Jarvis take a crack at it,” Tony said. He set it in Loki’s palm. “It has something to do with magic, or bullshit science, which is your area of expertise.” 

Loki flipped it over in his hands, studying the peculiar glass-like encasing. There appeared to be a gem at the center, but it could just as easily be a trick of the light, or the marbling of the stone. The strangest thing was that it was rather light in weight. He frowned. “What is it?” Tony asked. Loki rubbed his forehead. The hangover wasn’t quite gone yet. He took a breath. 

“Perhaps you stole a child’s toy,” he suggested, handing it back to Tony. 

That was the most disappointing answer that he could’ve given. Tony set it on the floor and rolled it in Andor’s direction. The soulless ram barked, curious, then proceeded to head butt it. Loki made room for Tony to sit beside him on the couch, only to stretch his legs back across the engineer’s lap. The gem sphere rolled around the floor behind them as the rams eagerly batted it back and forth on the stone flooring. 

“I don’t suppose you stole other children’s toys,” Loki said. 

“No,” Tony said. He grabbed Loki’s tired feet and began to rub. “First I found something to eat. The food here’s awful, by the way.” Loki hummed in agreement. “Went around some sort of museum place, talked to some curious beings there, left when that started getting weird, and was halfway through some sort of junk shop when I thought I saw the guy from the bar last night. After that I decided not to stick around, and ran into that group of kids on the way back here.” Tony glanced down. Loki’s eyes were closed. “I’d ask what you were up to but I already know the answer,” Tony said.

“Nonsense,” Loki said without opening an eye. “Jarvis and I had a lively debate about how to best irritate you.” 

“It is unfortunately true Sir,” Jarvis said before Tony could ask. The engineer had to consider that for a minute. 

“And what were your findings?” 

Loki smirked as Jarvis answered. “I suggested forcing you to comply with a strict schedule, but Loki’s answer was a bit more…unconventional.” Tony pulled his hands away from Loki and leaned them along the back of the couch. 

“What was the answer, Jarv?” Tony asked, knowing that Loki wouldn’t volunteer it. 

“Perhaps he should be the one to tell you,” Jarvis said. Tony nudged Loki. 

Loki’s sly green eyes were suddenly lucid and bright beneath his languid eyelids. A slow smirk came over him. “You can’t blame Jarvis for lacking the experience to know,” Loki said. He still treated Jarvis as if the A.I. were an amusing, slightly upgraded doorbell rather than giving him the humanity that Tony did, but he did enjoy their spats. It was rather like debating Tony. “I simply said that the most enjoyable way to irritate you is to delay your gratification repeatedly.” 

“Does that mean what I think it does?” Tony asked flatly. Loki gave him a look that said he wouldn’t be answering. Tony got up off of the couch. Loki’s hand shot out and grabbed his jeans, preventing him from going any further. “I’m just going to get some coffee,” Tony said. Loki let go. “I want to go back to our castle place tomorrow, there are some things that I need to work on in the lab there.” He narrowly avoided being smacked in the foot by the orb as Brynjar rolled it past. “Fuck, they really like that thing,” Tony muttered. They were cornering it and viciously toying with it like cats with a wounded mouse. It almost seemed as if the green orb were avoiding them. 

Loki held his breath. He did not want to go back to any of their properties, where a letter might be waiting for him, or worse—company. “Could you not make due with the lab on Earth?” 

Tony considered pretending that he hadn’t heard that. He was still actively avoiding thinking about the tower, and the people in it. “I don’t have the right specs there, Loki,” Tony said, sounding a little exasperated. “And I haven’t gotten my hands dirty with grease in weeks. It’s killing me.” 

Loki blinked, glancing away as he tried sitting up, still a little hunched over. “I’ll make it worth your while or something,” Tony offered half-assedly. He went in the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. When he came back in the main room, Loki was sitting up on the couch and watching the rams. Tony sat down on the other side, leaving room between them. 

“How long must we stay?” Loki asked. 

“A week, tops,” Tony said, knowing that he’d stretch it into more. They watched the orb roll loudly between the rams. Tony interpreted Loki’s silence as a tentative yes. “I can’t wait to analyze that thing a little more,” Tony said. 

Loki didn’t see what the fascination with the orb was. It seemed as if there was some sort of low-grade magic in it, but even that seemed pretty dampened. It had probably just belonged to someone with magic along the line. “Once we’ve finished our visit to your laboratory, we’re going somewhere new. Our last few have been far too boring.” 

“Getting imprisoned and stupidly drunk is too boring now,” Tony said, taking a drink. “You’re starting to sound like me.” 

Loki chuckled. “Not in the slightest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a little update as I mull over what to do with the other fic I'm working on  
> yes, the orb has what you think it does inside, and it will continue to exist here like a gerbil ball :)


	57. Two of Six

Tony was in the suit, happily stumbling his way down a red hill. The terrain was steep and he kept hitting patches of loose, sandy red gravel that rolled down and smacked the back of Loki’s boots. 

Six times Loki had suggested that he take off the suit, and six times Tony had refused. 

He had to throw his arms out to stay balanced, and the mechanical groans of the metal were obnoxious, but Tony felt cool. 

“That,” Tony said, pointing ahead. 

“What?” 

“We’re going there.” 

It was a black shard, standing suspended in outer space, but Tony was long past questioning the physics of the situation. Loki realized what was about to happen a moment too late. Tony’s arms snuck in around his chest just as he barked out an indignant, “you will not—”

“Too late,” Tony said, thrusting them up into the air. They rocketed across the chasm. Loki's boots hit the ground hard. Tony landed a few feet away. “I knew it’d be awesome,” Tony said. The face plate came up. 

Loki dusted off his clothes, hitting the fabric loudly to make a point. “It is no more spectacular up close than from afar,” Loki said dully. 

“What do you think this is?” Tony said, leaning in towards something in the rock. He stuck out his hand to touch it. Loki took the opportunity to have a full on eye roll behind Tony’s back. He mocked Tony’s gesture, miming the words soundlessly. “Huh,” Tony said softly. 

“You act as though you’ve never seen a rock before,” Loki said. He glared off at the distant horizon. It was nothing but stars and a thin red line dusting the abyss. There was a slight metallic squeak from Tony’s suit. Loki barely registered it before he felt something crawling along his spine. Ravenous and ambitious, he could feel its old power seething, seeking something. “Tony—” He turned back around in attempt to locate the source. He went limp. 

A red, blood-like stream of plasma danced around Tony, the man’s eyes wide. Before Loki could move an inch, the shifting energy seized upon the suit, sinking into the metal and vanishing. Tony blinked. 

“Get out of there!” Loki choked out. In seconds he was at Tony’s suit, prying at the first external detachment port. It wasn’t budging. 

The action snapped Tony out of his daze. “Woah, hey, hey, this thing costs millions—”

Blood dripped down the suit from Loki’s taxed fingers, magic biting into the metal in rapidly changing spells. Nothing was working. “Loki,” Tony said. There was no upset in his voice. 

“If that takes power of the suit with you inside, you’ll be crushed,” Loki gritted out. His eyes flitted sharply to Tony’s before going back to the suit. 

“Woah, okay, let me walk you through it,” Tony said, deciding it was far easier to save the suit and Loki’s fingers now and figure out what was going on after. “At the back of my neck there’s a—yeah, that’s it,” Tony said as the piece came loose. “Jarvis, maybe you wanna let me out, buddy?” 

There was no answer from Jarvis, as Loki knew there wouldn’t be. “The next,” he said. 

“Down in the shoulder blade there’s a lever, no down like a centimeter—” Loki found each release quickly with Tony’s guidance, until he could grasp the man and pull him from the suit. He closed his eyes and buried his nose into Tony’s neck for a split second, grip digging tightly into Tony’s arm, before letting go. “Uh, wanna tell me now—”

“Get back,” Loki said, pulling Tony with him. Tony stumbled away just in time to see the suit reassemble itself. Loki’s senses were going haywire. That was pure power emanating from the suit. Tony’s heart had started pounding the moment Loki had pulled him in and he’d realized that something was seriously wrong. He stared at the suit, anger slowly creeping in place of fear. “What that would’ve done with you still inside,” Loki muttered. 

“There’s still someone inside,” Tony said. 

Loki turned, studying Tony sharply. “Jarvis,” Tony said. He took a deep breath. “You in there?” 

“Yes, Sir.” A rush of relief flooded in, but he didn’t allow himself to relax completely. 

“What’s the situation?” 

“It seems that an external force has integrated with the power system. I’m back online but—” The suit stood on the backdrop of stars, tilting its arm outward. “There seems to be a new energy source. Sir?” 

Tony took a deep breath. Alright. As long as Jarvis could speak with him, he could work with this. Loki’s eyes were trained on him, his body absolutely still. “How’s the control situation? Any firewalls that’ve been breached or bugs…”

“I am in complete control,” Jarvis said. 

“How about the suit? Can it contain whatever this is?” Tony’s voice was collected and steady, like it was just a routine checkin. 

“I believe so.” 

Tony and Loki exchanged a look. Tony grinned uncomfortably as he turned back to Jarvis. “What about the power source. Can you…shut it down?” 

It took Jarvis a few moments to consider that. “No.” 

Tony crossed his arms over his under suit. He waited for Loki to suggest something. Yet what came from the god’s pensive expression was not advice. “You simply had to insist upon venturing outside of civilization.” 

“Hey! I was trying to be the responsible one. You’ve been getting us into trouble everywhere we go.” 

Loki scoffed. “The responsible one? You jettisoned me towards a rock on an impulse.” He’d crossed his arms as well, though it looked far more formidable on him than it did on Tony. 

“A very special rock,” Tony corrected him. Loki wouldn’t dignify that with a response so Tony went back to thinking about the suit. “I’m going to have to scrap it,” he said unhappily. 

“I sincerely doubt that such an effort is possible.” 

“Why?” Tony asked. 

Loki frowned, his eyes narrowing as he studied the lightless eyes in the iron mask. “If I am correct about what I believe is inside of your suit, it is an aether that is very old a quite powerful. …power itself, it might be said.” 

“Yeah, it’s definitely going in the scrapper,” Tony said without missing a beat. He let out a sigh, scratching his helmet hair. “And I just upgraded it too.” 

“Why should we destroy it?” Loki asked. “It cannot be destroyed in any case, and now it is in your suit,” he said, oddly curious. “With Jarvis.” 

“Who I’m sure wants to get back to lounging around on my tablet.” 

There was a strange gleam in Loki’s eyes that made Tony uncomfortable. “Nu-uh,” Tony said. “I know that look. We are not keeping it.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because we, you, both of us do not need that kind of power running around. I don’t know what that thing’s capable of, but I do know what the suit is capable of, and it’s not a good idea.” Tony reached out to grab Loki’s elbow, but at the look he was given, settled for placing his hand there instead. “Loki,” he said, waiting until the god took his attention off the suit and focused on him. “We don’t need that kind of firepower.” 

Loki shrugged, turning his head derisively to the side. “Don’t be so small minded.” 

“Babe,” Tony said. “Come on.” 

“And what if Asgard is to come knocking on our door, or some unfathomable force? You do not know what is out there as I do, Tony. Need I remind you of the Other, or what some are capable of?” He didn’t move out of Tony’s touch but he didn’t relax either. “We would be fools to abandon this opportunity.” 

“Yeah, and what if it’s turned against us?” Tony asked. Loki frowned. Tony had a point, but he wouldn’t concede. 

“Would you leave it here for someone else to find?” Tony stared down at the ground at the question. 

“What about sticking it in your little hidey hole place? That one we went to with the egg in it and all of that shit?” 

“It would not be secure there. As fortified as that is, it still attracts things. There is a tremendous amount of force in the aether…”

“Which is why someone stuck it in a rock in the middle of the universe,” Tony said. “Ugh, fine, then where are we going to keep it?” 

“The castle, as you call it, would be ideal. There is quite a bit of magic there to muddle the distinct…nature of this.” The aether’s power was still singing in his ear, though it had dampened considerably inside of the suit. 

Looking particularly morbid, Tony turned back to Jarvis. “Jarv, do you think that you could redirect that power into something else? Can you manipulate it?” 

“Yes.” 

Tony sighed. He closed his eyes and groaned. “Fine,” he said. “Damn it.” He felt Loki’s hand on his forearm. “What?” He asked, cracking open an eye. Loki’s hand found it’s way into his. 

“I am not sure about crossing back.” He squeezed Tony’s hand. His eyes were distant, set on the suit. “It may be difficult.” 

“Okay,” Tony said with a shrug. Loki walked up with him to the suit, then placed his palm where the arc reactor should have been. 

They appeared in the castle lab without a hitch. “Jarvis, walk the suit over there,” Tony said, pointing to an empty stand. He turned towards his desk, fully intending to work. Loki’s arms folded over Tony’s shoulders, using him as an arm rest. 

“What do you intend to do?” 

“Transfer whatever the hell that is into something that can’t shoot me,” Tony said. He called up some holograms and began to work. “You know, it’s kind of hard to do this when you’re stuck to me.” 

Loki made an indifferent hum and let go. He sat in Tony’s desk chair instead, propping his feet up on the desk. “I can’t think with you there,” Tony said. 

“I thought you liked having me in your lab.” 

“Only if it leads to sex, you know that,” Tony said. Loki chuckled. 

“I’m not leaving,” he said. 

“Didn’t think so,” Tony answered. Jarvis was sending him readings that were appearing too quickly to be read. “I can feel you thinking,” Tony said. “Stop it.” 

“I cannot cease to think,” Loki said condescendingly. Neither was upset. The banter was familiar and keeping them steady in the face of the aether. Tony worked feverishly, zoning in and out of the conversation as it suited him. Hours crawled by. Tony hadn’t gotten past the design phase. Night had fallen and another day begun, but neither of them slept or moved from the lab. Andor and Brynjar came in, rolling their ball across the floor. Loki locked them out of the lab without stepping a foot outside the door. 

Tony moved on to constructing a metal disk. Loki was helping, and staying out of the way when he could. They hit an almost easy rhythm, though Loki never quite mastered not touching the things that Tony didn’t want touched. There was no rhyme or reason to follow. 

Finally, Jarvis was ready to make the transfer. Loki returned to Tony’s side, eyes set on the metal contraption Tony had crafted. “Alright Jarv,” Tony said. “Let’s see if the past two days were worth it.” 

His suit walked a few steps over and knelt before the disk. “What if it doesn’t go for it?” Tony asked quietly. 

“I placed quite a bit of magic there,” Loki said. “It should be enticing.” The suit’s hand set onto the disk. 

“And what’s it going to do with that magic?” Tony asked. He hadn’t been aware of that part of the plan. 

“It’s more like an offering,” Loki said. They watched as a blood red liquid began flowing from the fingertips of the suit into the gold disk. “It will be consumed, much in the same way you eat a meal.” 

“Yeah, but won’t that hurt you?” Tony asked, glancing away from the spectacle for a moment to see Loki’s face. Loki shook his head. 

“A small bit of fatigue, perhaps, but it will replenish itself.” 

“Transfer complete, Sir.” Jarvis said. The suit powered down as the metal disk spun to life, shooting off in one direction along the lab floor with a squealing sound. “The system appears operational.” 

“Yeah, well it’d better pick up the pencil shavings I spilled yesterday,” Tony said. He gruffly watched it make its rounds, keeping an eye on the readings. Once the machine had sucked up the shavings, Tony seemed marginally satisfied. “Well,” Tony said, leaning against Loki. “It appears that operation roomba is a success.” 

Loki hummed in reply, eyes set on the device. 

“And don't you dare try to get up to some magical bullshit with that,” Tony said, voice rife with exhaustion. “It’s bad enough that it’s here.” Loki grabbed his hand. 

“Off to bed,” he said. 

“Changing the subject,” Tony said, fighting off a yawn. “Lucky you. I’ll allow it.”

Loki grinned. “How generous of you.” 

Now that this was reasonably over with, the exhaustion would catch up. Tony let Loki guide him to their bedroom, carefully stepping around the rams waiting for them when they opened the lab door and falling into bed alongside him.

One week later, they were sitting at the kitchen table when the roomba came roaring in. Loki lifted his legs up into Tony’s lap, not glancing away from the book he was reading. Tony propped his feet up on the chair to keep them off the floor. Brynjar squealed from atop the roomba as it knocked into a table leg. “Don’t spill my coffee,” Tony warned them, tapping at his tablet. 

The roomba spun around and went the other way, Brynjar sailing along with a giddy squeak. Loki and Tony’s feet returned to the floor. It was quiet for a few more blissful minutes. Then they heard the green orb rolling towards the kitchen. Their feet repeated the same action in sync, Loki’s legs in Tony’s lap and Tony’s feet on the chair. They did not look up from the things they were reading. Andor chased the orb around the chairs and rolled it up against the cabinet for a few paces before finally getting it back out into the hall. Then Tony and Loki’s feet returned to the floor. Tony took a sip of his coffee and set it back down. The cup clinked against the table in the wonderfully quiet kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The Other and Thanos are dead in this storyline (by Loki's hand, much more previously off screen)._


	58. One Up

The headboard smacked against the wall with a loud thump. It was right behind his head, but Tony didn’t distinguish it much from his own heavy breathing in his ears, or the pillow ruffling as it attempted muffling the sound, or the pounding of his own pulse, or the way Loki groaned each time he reached the point where Tony’s body could take him no further. 

The headboard was a steady rhythm that was carrying Tony off, bringing him so, so close, as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. Speech had left him a while ago. Thoughts had left. 

Then, just as Loki bottomed out, he stilled. It took Tony a few seconds to realize the rhythm was lost, the pattern was gone, and Loki was just still—Tony’s eyes sluggishly flickered open. Loki’s face was flushed, eyes half open, as he listened for something. And then, Tony barely, _barely_ heard the pounding sound. But this time it was came from the bedroom door. Loki started to move again, and Tony forgot about it.

Just another second, that was all he needed—Loki stilled again. There was a thump against the door, and then a second right after it. Tony groaned. He was too fucked out to move, and he didn’t want to ruin this—he saw Loki’s eyes open, articulate this time, no matter how lustful they were. Tony knew that look. “Don’t you dare,” he rasped out. 

Loki grinned down at him, a long slow smirk that held far too much power and pride. There was another thud against the door. “Or what?” Loki asked. He thrust into Tony again, just a quick, hard shove that earned nothing but a groan and a glare from Tony. 

Tony rolled his eyes towards the ceiling and then shut them. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Tony whispered. His thoughts were back, and speech, and they were not welcome. Loki’s fingertips played across his chest. They coaxed one nipple. 

“What if something’s wrong?” Loki asked Tony, his voice haughty, baiting Tony. 

A shaky hand came to Tony’s face as he wiped off some of the sweat that had gathered along his brow. He dropped it back to the bed. Then he shot Loki with a long, pointed stare. Daring him to do it. And Loki, contrarian that he was, rose to the challenge. 

He pulled out as slowly as he could, smirking down at Tony all the while. Tony covered his eyes with his arm again to ignore him. He felt the bed shake as Loki’s feet hit the floor. He padded to the door and pulled it open. “Oh dear,” Loki said dramatically into the hallway. “It seems that they’ve run off again.” He gave it a good pause. 

As he began to turn back around he said, “now where were we?” His eyes set on the bed just in time to see Tony coming by his own hand. Tony’s lips parted as he groaned, eyes clamped shut. White striped his chest. Satisfied, Tony opened his eyes to witness Loki’s newly aroused and partially shocked expression. 

“How are they doing?” Tony asked, smirking. “Fine?” Loki swallowed. Tony slowly helped himself off the bed, being sure to flaunt every slick, flushed muscle in his body as he did. He glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see Loki swallow harder. Tony had won this game. 

Loki stood halfway between the door and the bed, utterly bare and needy. “Where are you going?” 

“I,” Tony said, showily stretching, “am going to go clean myself off, and then I’m going to go back to working in my lab. I was in the middle of something when someone appeared promising me crazy sex, I have to say, it was a bit of false advertising—” Tony grinned. Loki’s surprise at having been foiled had given way to reluctant resignation. He was giving Tony one of those looks that was supposed to be reproachful, but never really succeeded that well. Tony left, leaving him to take care of himself. 

 

Tony laughed a while later, recalibrating an old part as he recalled the look on Loki’s face. Always trying to have the upper hand. “Where is he right now, Jarv?” 

Jarvis never had to ask who _he_ referred to. “Feeding the pets treats from the garden,” Jarvis said dryly. “He has been in the gardens for the past hour.” 

“Did you finish processing that last set?” Tony asked, right back to his work. 

 

Around three in the morning, Tony’s hunger could be ignored no longer. He got up from his desk chair, stretching and popping his back. His legs were stiff as he started towards the kitchen. He spotted one of their pets sleeping inside of a nook in the couch cushions on his way there. Tony cracked his neck as he rounded the corner leading to the kitchen. “Ahghh!” Tony blurted, startling. He stopped to catch his breath. “Shit. I wasn't expecting you there.” 

Loki stared at him over the rim of his teacup. He sipped slowly as Tony came around the table and took the seat next to him. “What’re you doing up?” Tony asked. “You’re not picking up my habits, are you?” 

“No,” Loki replied. “I am merely finding it difficult to sleep.” He leaned back in his chair, pretending to be unaffected. 

“Because I’m not there, right?” Tony asked, playfully nudging at Loki. The god rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but Tony’s hand set on his shoulder. He didn’t want Loki to contradict him. “Just let me shove something in my face because I’m starving, and then we can go to bed.” He hurried to get up. “And then I’ll be going to bed at a sort of reasonableish time,” Tony said as he pulled open a cabinet. He grabbed a pack of fruit-like squares and tore them open. “Amazing, right?” Tony asked with a mouthful. 

“Your time in the laboratory has become rather excessive as of late,” Loki said. He rose from his chair, leaving the cup on the table. Tony watched him as he ate. “Perhaps it is time that we visit Midgard and see your friends again. It has been several months since you last visited.” Tony hurried to swallow and tossed the empty package on the counter. 

“I don’t want to stop what I’m working on,” Tony said, coming in to wrap his arm around Loki’s waist. It was a weak lie. He was just tinkering in the lab, they both knew that. “Besides,” Tony said, pressing a kiss to Loki’s shoulder as they walked into the hall. Loki didn’t react outwardly, though inside he was pleased. “We have things we can be doing here.” 

“If I spend another day in the gardens I’ll perish of boredom,” Loki said. 

“Field-trip?” Tony suggested. 

Loki didn’t answer right away. They’d spent the last few weeks at the castle, not doing much of anything. Tony was content, but Loki was growing tired of it. Yet, he had no desire to travel either. “Perhaps,” he said. 

“Mm, okay,” Tony said. He let go of Loki when they entered the bedroom. Tony stripped off his clothes and crawled into bed, then waited for Loki to finish doing the same. Tony opened his arms for Loki to crawl in. Loki grabbed his shoulder and pushed lightly. “No,” Tony said. “I want to be the big spoon tonight.” 

Loki rolled onto his back. “Why? It does not suit your small disposition.”

“Hey!” Tony barked. “It so does! Just because you have legs like a freaking spider doesn't mean that—”

“Tony, I will not squabble over such trivial matters—”

“Then don’t,” Tony said, trying to wedge himself in between Loki and the mattress. He was stronger now. Loki couldn’t pull the Asgardian weight thing on him anymore. Loki had to try for his arms instead. It turned into a jumble of flailing arms and legs, kicking the covers back and forth without either giving in as they gritted out petty insults at each other. They wound up shoulder to shoulder, sides pressed together in a silent truce. 

Tony would wait for Loki to fall asleep. 

Loki would wait for Tony to fall asleep. 

They laid there, listening acutely to the other, both far too aware that the other had not fallen asleep. Occasionally, one of them would flinch, just to be certain that the other was still awake. 

Thirty minutes later, Tony let out a heavy sigh. “You should let me have what I want since you failed to fuck me over today,” Tony said. 

Loki crossed his arms. “Where is your sense of humor?”

Tony scoffed. The room became quiet again. Then Tony felt Loki’s body pull away from him. He turned his head against the pillow to see that Loki was on his side with his back to Tony. “Really?” Tony blurted, sounding far too giddy for Loki. The god rolled his eyes. Tony wisely shut up and closed the distance between them. Loki’s body was warm, calming. Tony buried his nose in closer, feeling his muscles unwind as the familiar smell soothed him. Like this, it felt like Loki would always be there, right where Tony needed him. 

Tony had just started to drift off when he heard, “don’t think I’ll always be so kind, Stark.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony muttered. Of course Loki couldn’t just let him have this. Then again, it wouldn’t be fun if he did. Tony knew they would play the game again in the morning. With that, he nodded off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little domestic interlude between other things. :)


	59. Magic Con (Or the Lack There of)

“What?” Tony asked, voice snapping. He lowered his safety goggles, pointedly trying to ignore the god hovering behind him. 

“What?” Loki asked innocently. Loki folded his hands behind his back, smiling as he leaned to the side. 

Tony set a pair of pliers down on the steel table. “What do you want?” He asked. Tony wanted to keep working, but that was difficult, if not impossible, when Loki wanted something. 

“Can I not come down here?” 

“I remember revoking your lab privileges more than once,” Tony said. 

“And yet you always reverse that decision,” Loki answered. 

“No, you always bribe your way out of it, and I take the bribe because I know I can revoke those privileges again,” Tony said. Loki hummed behind him. It was no secret between them. “So. What is it?” 

Loki took in a loud, slow breath. “I,” he said. “Expect you to take care of the pets for a few days.” Tony turned around in his seat, resting his arm over the back of the chair. He gave Loki a look. One of many Tony looks, and Loki pretended not to understand, as if he hadn’t already memorized them all ages ago.    
“Because,” Tony prompted. Leave it to Loki to be a showy bastard and not just be out about it. 

“I am going to attend a gathering for wielders and manipulators of the magical arts.” Loki swung his arms out from behind his back. “I think it would be best if you spent my time away with your friends on Midgard.” 

“Or I could go to the magic show,” Tony said. 

Loki pinched his lips in a forced smile. “It is far too dangerous for one such as yourself. You lack the self restraint to keep your hands to yourself.” 

“You’ve never complained about that before,” Tony said. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “I haven’t any desire to spend the entirety of the weekend accounting for your whereabouts and attempting to hide you from the curious, knowing eyes of others. A Midgardian will be quite out of place. You will attract far too much attention,” he said. “And in any case, I cannot recall the last occasion that you spent time in the company of your mortal friends.” 

Tony shrugged. It’d been months, at least. He was trying very hard not to think about it and succeeding. “I’ll bring you tomorrow,” Loki said. 

“No,” Tony said. “I’ll stay here while you go to magic con or whatever the hell it is.” 

Loki crossed his arms over his chest. One hand drummed against an arm as Loki’s eyes narrowed, evaluating Tony. Tony turned back around in his seat. “I do not feel comfortable leaving you here,” Loki said. “I would hate to think of what could enter here from the woods without my magic in place.” 

“So leave it in place,” Tony said, sounding less certain. 

“Ah,” Loki said. “But that is quite impossible when I am a realm away. Only the weaker barriers will stay.” Tony hesitantly turned back to look at him, uncertainty creeping in under his attempt at confidence. Loki smiled inwardly. He had known the trick would work, for as much as Tony had made attempts at studying magic, it still fell into his _poke with stick_ category.

Which Loki knew from nosing through his files, of course. 

“I guess I could see what Bruce has been up to,” Tony said. 

Loki nodded his head. “We’ll take off in the evening tomorrow then. And don’t leave Natasha to care for the rams the entire time.” 

“Wha—I don’t do that—” Tony started. Loki began to raise his eyebrow in that all-knowing, horrifically condescending way. “I can’t help it that she’s the most menacing one! They’re more attracted to her!” Tony huffed. Loki vanished mid eye roll, leaving Tony to his work. Tony grumbled as he went back to what he’d been doing only after spending a full ten minutes on an uncomfortably accurate impersonation of Loki that Jarvis appreciated.

* * * 

Tony arrived in his tower with both rams tucked into their carrying bag. He parted from Loki after a brief, unsentimental goodbye. All of his things were magically unpacked, reappearing in his room as if they’d never let. Tony set the rams down in his room and wandered downstairs.

Clint jumped out of his chair when he saw Tony. “Fuck!” Clint muttered. “A head’s up would’ve been nice.” 

“So you didn’t get my post card from outer space?” Tony asked. 

Clint let out a labored sigh and sat back down. “No. Where the hell have you been?” He asked, not unfriendly. Tony took the chair across from him, both dreading and anticipating finding out what had happened in his absence. Clint looked older already. There were lines under his eyes that hadn’t been there before, and something undefined in his posture that spoke of old age. And the kitchen was different too. It’d been rearranged, and the sink had been replaced at some point. He was still taking it in when Clint asked how he’d been.

* * * 

Loki strolled through the bazaar, taking in the shows and displays of magic before him. Some of the stages were made with tech that would’ve made Tony drool. Loki went up to the first tech stage, not because he had any particular interest in what was being demonstrated, but because he went in that direction without thinking about it.

Once he realized that he was bored, he left. 

There were hundreds to choose from. Loki took his time. He knew some of the beings there quite well. Many of them were from his earlier days. Tony wouldn’t have liked them. Loki went to get drinks with a few of them, but found himself thinking halfway through of how little he had in common with them anymore. Even when they got up to their antics, he didn’t enjoy himself as he once would have.

He set back to his borrowed living quarters at the end of the day convinced that tomorrow would be more interesting.

* * *

Clint, Bruce, and Rhodey took Tony out for drinks the second night. It was fun at first. He’d missed them. But as he heard just how much he’d missed out on, guilt and discomfort set in. Rhodey went home early to be with his wife, and Tony envied him.

On the third day, Loki wasn’t back. Tony hadn’t expected him to be. The tower was quiet. Clint and Bruce were out working. Steve was working. Natasha was in another city on a mission. He went down into his old lab. Jarvis complained about running on the older operating systems. Tony wound up spending the whole day doing updates. 

He amused himself by checking in on Shield in the evening, but wished he hadn’t. It didn’t take long to find the file with his name on it, and an elaborate report on what a traitor he was. Tony got out of his chair and wandered upstairs. 

The rams greeted him at the door. Tony walked to the bed as they brushed up against his heels. They couldn’t quite get up onto the bed once he’d sat down, but instead of letting them figure out a way, he reached down and scooped up Andor and then Brynjar. Tony combed his fingers through their plush fur. “How’d you get a chip in this?” Tony asked Brynjar, picking at his helmet. There was a gash in the gold plating. “We’ll have to patch that up tomorrow.” Andor purred from his spot on Tony’s thigh. 

Tony set Brynjar down on the other thigh and stared at them. Andor’s beady eyes stayed fixated on him, while Brynjar chose to go to sleep. “Nothing in this room is destroyed,” Tony told Andor. “That’s highly suspicious.” The ram didn’t even blink. “I’m going to find a tunnel in the wall leading to the real damage, aren’t I?” Tony asked. There was no answer. 

Tony sighed. He grabbed Brynjar and set him back on one of the pillows. The ram fell onto his side in the plush down, remaining asleep. Tony picked up Andor. The ram began to growl. “You can’t stay there,” Tony said. He dropped Andor beside Brynjar. “You high strung bastard,” he muttered. Tony laid down and rolled onto his side then, ignoring them on the next pillow over from him. “No purring,” Tony said. “You’re too loud.” 

That made no difference, of course. And Tony didn’t mind, not really. It was familiar. He stared around his room, listening to them until he eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Loki amused himself the next day with every strange oddity he could find. He had excellent luck, and would be going back with an enviable array of magical instruments. He enjoyed using his clever tongue to get the best out of the sellers.

But he kept finding things that reminded him of Tony. He was only going to get one present for Tony, he decided. Just one. He didn’t need to take back fifty, and it would be nice if he’d stop finding things that he wanted to take back. 

It was difficult to enjoy the gathering without wanting to see the wonder that would light up Tony’s face as he marveled at something, or turning around to say something to Tony and then realizing that he was not there. 

He’d come to this gathering for centuries, but this time it was not the same. It didn’t have the luster it usually did. Perhaps if he’d taken Tony it would’ve been amusing, but Tony had become moody as of late, and Loki was certain that some time on Midgard was called for.

* * *

Loki reappeared on Midgard to find Tony laughing in the common room with his friends. His laugh had that easy, content way about it that Loki had been missing. He didn't let his presence go noticed at first.

Tony seemed happy with his friends, and it was nice to see him out of the lab for once. 

Of course, Loki had wants as well. He strolled forward and let himself be known as if he’d just arrived. Tony got up out of his seat right away. “Look who decided to show up,” Tony said, walking over to him. 

“I’m having second thoughts,” Loki said. It was hard to keep the act up and not smile at Tony this time. “Did you remember to feed our pets?” 

“We have pets!?” Tony asked, going wide eyed. “When did that happen?”

Loki shook his head, sighing. 

“Yeah, I fixed Brynjar’s helmet,” Tony said. “Took out that dent.” 

“That’s been there for months,” Loki said. “Come, let me see.” He vanished upstairs with Tony in an instant. Tony walked up to the bed and scooped up Brynjar. 

“See?” He asked. Loki took the sleeping ram, turning him over in his hands. Tony hadn’t just removed the dent. He’d reworked the helmet entirely, crafting it into something sleek and beautiful. 

“I suppose you’ve earned your reward,” Loki said, as if it were a hassle to allow. He made the item appear in his hand and held it out to Tony. Tony snatched up the silver sphere. It emitted a moving image of the place the gathering had been held in. “That is a live image of the place I was at.” 

“Portable web cam. Fantastic,” Tony said. He grinned at Loki, then rolled it into his pocket. Brynjar began to cry. Loki sat down on the edge of the bed, and Tony followed him. “How was it?” 

Loki stroked his fingers through the ram’s fur, soothing him. “Fine,” Loki said. Andor awoke and cantered across the bed to them, smacking Tony in the back. Tony flinched, then scooted away from the ram, bringing his side flush with Loki’s. Loki picked up the second ram without comment and set them both down on his thighs. “A bit unremarkable.” 

“Same,” Tony said. He wanted to reach over and pat Brynjar, but he ignored the impulse. “Where’re we going next?” 

“I’m not certain,” Loki said, sounding a bit sleepy. “I am content here for the moment.” 

Tony grinned. “Great, because Clint needs someone to try his cooking.” 

“Here in this room,” Loki amended himself. 

Tony smirked. After a moment, he began recounting the lighter things that had happened that week. Loki resumed stroking Brynjar’s fur, content right where he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a tiny chapter because I've had this magic con idea for it for months and it had to get out.


	60. Things Better Not Spoken Of

Tony was walking through a lush, grassy field. A soft wind blew through his hair. It was supernaturally sunny, but the harsh white light wasn’t making him blink or squint at all. He came to the top of the hill. 

He sensed something at his shins and glanced down to see a small child sitting in the grass. 

The boy was just a toddler, a wad of dandelions clasped in his pudgy hands. He smiled, holding them up to Tony. 

Tony crouched down. 

“Are these for me?” He asked. 

The child dropped a smashed dandelion into Tony’s hands. His hair was dark black and curly, but when he looked up, Tony saw his own brown eyes reflected. “I always thought you’d get his eyes,” Tony muttered. The words slid from his lips before he could stop and think of them. The child’s gaze slipped back down to his sticky hands. 

“You’re awfully quiet,” Tony said. The child ripped up a small patch of grass. “Hmm,” Tony said. He was about to tease about tearing up the lawn, but something about this was striking him as incorrect. It was lodging in his brain. _Incorrect_. He could hear it, as if Jarvis was saying it, ever the voice of reason. 

“Tony.” He knew the voice calling him. Tony turned over his shoulder and saw Loki coming up the hill. All of his doubt and uncertainty were forgotten. The god immediately crouched down on the grass next to him, reaching out and taking the child into his arms. “I leave you alone for a moment and already you’re into trouble,” Loki said fondly to the child.

Tony’s lips twitched into a grin. “Just like his father.” 

The wind caught Loki’s hair as he turned towards Tony. The warm, radiant smile there was so gentle, so content and loving, Tony almost didn’t recognize him. His gaze flickered up from that distracting smile. Vivid green eyes stared back at him. Too vivid. 

Tony woke with a start in their bed. He sat up. Andor rolled down the blanket, dislodged from his sleeping spot against Tony, and landed against Loki’s limp arm. The god had the nerve to still be asleep, his lips cracked open and breathing soft. “Asshole,” Tony said, kicking his foot against Loki’s knee. Loki didn’t stir. 

Tony threw the covers off on his side of the bed. He stormed towards the door, glancing back once in the hope that Loki had woken up. Loki remained motionless in the center of the bed. Their white bed sheets were tangled around him, the rams sleeping on opposite sides of him in the dim bedroom. Tony left.

Bare feet smacking against the cold stone floors of their castle home, Tony fumed all the way down to the lab. He ranted until Jarvis grew tired of him. He couldn’t stay focused on any of his experiments or projects. He tried to fall asleep on the couch only to give up. Haggard and irate, Tony went to the kitchen. He sat down with his tablet and coffee. He waited. 

Loki stumbled into the kitchen a couple hours later, rubbing his eyes. He appeared sleepy but well-rested, the bastard. His gaze skipped past Tony to the cabinet behind him and failed to notice anything amiss. Tony waited for him to make his tea or whatever the hell it was that he was having. And food, apparently. Loki sat down beside him. 

He took a heaping bite with his fork from some gravy slicked mess that made Tony’s stomach rumble with hunger. “Would you like some?” Loki asked without looking up. His hair was frizzy and his motions were slow. He hadn’t quite woken up yet. 

“No. I hate that stuff.” 

Loki glanced up instantly, recognizing that something was off. He held Tony’s stare for a moment. The sleepiness vanished from his eyes, turning them weary and sharp. As awareness clicked in, Loki sat back in his chair, mouth pulling back into a flat line. “Remember what you did last night, dear?” Tony asked, voice uncharacteristically critical, the _dear_ cruel and bitter. 

Loki rarely witnessed Tony’s anger manifest quite like this.

He twirled his fork around in his food with a stiff arm and waited. 

“You know,” Tony said. “Sometimes I almost start to forget what a manipulative little shit you can be.” His voice shot off, riding on all the anger that had pent up in the past few hours. “I mean, I almost forget who I’m sleeping with.” He crossed his arms over his chest and kicked his foot up onto the chair next to him. 

“What are you accusing me of?” Loki asked flatly. 

“Don’t play dumb,” Tony said. “You came into my dreams last night and planted that freaking dream about the kid.” Loki’s eyes darted to him a little too wide and then back down to his meal. “How many times have you done that?” Tony demanded. 

Loki answered coldly. “I do not recall choosing to come into your dreams last night. Perhaps you wandered into mine.” 

“Yeah right,” Tony said. “That shit takes trying.” 

Loki licked his lips and then bit down on them, glaring straight ahead. 

Tony scoffed. He rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe this,” Tony said. “You’re planting dreams in my head. What part of I’m not ready yet do you not understand?” 

Loki resumed eating. Tony watched him for a minute in self-righteous disbelief. Loki finally answered with detached exhaustion, as if it was all beyond him. “Consider for a second,” he said. “What you might live to regret.” 

“What? Not wrecking some kid’s life too early?” 

Loki snapped at Tony’s flippancy. “You have friends, Tony, that you may wish to see our child and little time for that to take place.” He seethed, causing Tony to be taken aback for the first time that morning. “I do not believe this to be the most fortunate of timing now either, but I am not oblivious to the circumstances of your friends.” 

“Shut up!” Tony blurted. He didn’t have anything to immediately follow it up with. Loki went instead. 

“Do not fault me for attempting to spare you from such a regret.” 

“Whatever,” Tony said. “I said I need to wait, and that it was just on the table. I don’t know yet. And I don’t like you trying to force my hand with a stupid dream!” A dream that really had been nice, if he allowed himself to admit it. Sickeningly schmaltzy and sweet, probably the kind of thing that Lifetime would self implode to get their hands on, but nice. It had hurt a little to wake up and know it was fake. 

Loki answered as if Tony had said nothing. “You become moody and irritable whenever you have been kept from Midgard for too long.” He tapped his fingers against the table, infinitely more interested in them than in Tony’s reactions. “There is no fault in a little homesickness.” 

He picked up his fork and poked at his meal. “It has been only a month since our last visit, and here we are arguing over some dream you had. You are homesick, and I get to enjoy the effects of it.” He ignored Tony’s skeptical grunt. “You have not paid Rhodey any attention, and I know how dear he is to you, Tony. You do yourself a disservice by refusing to return, just as much as you do him and the others that surely miss you.” 

“Rhodey doesn’t need me. He has a wife. He has a regular home and his own life going on. He doesn’t need me crashing in whenever I feel like it. I’ve done that enough in our lives.” 

“When you get over yourself, I want you to go see him.” 

Loki went back to eating as Tony’s anger boiled over.

“Since when do you care?” Tony asked. 

Loki dropped the fork. “When have I not?!” He shot back. “Do I not offer to return? Do I not stay on our visits? Do I not give you time there alone as well? It is you that calls our visits to Midgard short more and more, and you do not have the luxury of time!” 

“That’s easy for you to say! You don’t have to look at your friends and know they’re dying! You don’t know what it’s like to see how much things have changed in just a few months and know that in a few years, decades, no one’s going to know who you are anymore! I can’t stay. It fucking hurts.” 

Tony finished, staring at the table with a watery gloss to his bloodshot eyes. Loki considered him for a moment. He spoke softly. 

“Anthony, I’m sorry.” 

Tony scratched his nails against his beard. “Don’t be. I knew what I was signing up for.” 

That hung quietly between them for a minute. Loki hurried to finish eating. He swallowed, then set his fork down carefully. “You should consider this, not ignore it.” Loki wasn’t willing to let this go, not now. This time, it truly wasn’t for him. He knew Tony. He felt like he knew what was needed. He didn’t want Tony to have regrets. “Our delay will not impact me the way it will you. Regardless of my feelings towards it, I have a home of sorts to return to.” One that he wasn’t on particularly good terms with, but one nonetheless. It wasn’t the same for Tony. 

“Exactly,” Tony said. “You don’t know what it’s like.” 

It wasn’t the response that Loki had been expecting. “Perhaps not,” he conceded. “But I have had centuries to consider the things that you must decide on in months, if not years. I cannot truly imagine the passage of time in your eyes. It makes me weary for you.” 

“So let me worry about it,” Tony said. “I don’t need you to worry or make decisions for me.” 

“All I ask is for you to—” Loki’s anger was returning. Tony frustrated him. “Am I not allowed my concern for you?” 

“I didn’t ask you to be concerned!” Tony exclaimed. 

Loki shut his eyes and breathed in. Petulant was not Tony. Not really. Tony was tired and homesick, even if he was too stubborn to admit it. Tony’s experiments in the search for immortality were failing. Loki had been checking on them when Tony wasn’t looking. Everyday Tony’s lab notes grew more despondent and hopeless. Tony was scared and upset, and after all the trouble he’d given Loki about not sharing, here he was, not sharing. The hypocrite. It was enough to make Loki snap. But he held back, knowing that strategy would be far more effective. “And yet,” Loki asserted. “All the same, I am.” The words were terse, forceful. 

Loki took in another deep breath. He was so good with his masks, around everyone, except increasingly, Tony. “How could I not be?” He asked, some of his rage slipping out. Perhaps now he understood how Tony felt at being held at an arm’s length and left out of things.

Tony looked straight ahead when he spoke, withdrawing into the arms crossed over his chest. “I’m just not ready yet,” he said. “Stop worrying about my friends. It’s not up to you. Maybe I don’t want them to know.” 

Shame swept into Loki before he could think. Of course Tony wouldn’t want his friends to see the child he had created with a monster. Why hadn’t he pieced that together? “And why not?” Loki asked the table. 

“Because,” Tony said. His voice was far away, as if he wasn’t picking up on what Loki knew. “It’ll hurt more. Okay? Happy?” 

“What will?” Loki asked, wanting and not wanting to hear it admitted aloud. 

“Knowing,” Tony said, sighing and dropping his shoulders down. “What it was like when they saw the kid as a baby, and that they won’t be around to see the kid grow up, and always wondering what they would’ve thought of this or that.” 

A fresh twinge of shame struck as he realized he’d been wrong. Loki distracted himself from that thought by pointing out something instead. “You will wonder regardless.”

“It’s not the same,” Tony said. “I wouldn’t actually know what they thought, or have that memory of them and the kid in my head. They’re going to figure out that I’m not mortal eventually, and I don’t want to add a kid into the mix that’s going to have to watch them pass. That’s cruel. And anyway. I didn’t say yes. I said I don't know. It’s on the table.” 

“Right,” Loki said, standing up. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Is there more that you would like to say?” Loki asked. Tony shook his head. “Then I’m going to the garden.” Loki walked out. Tony’s attention fell on the plate he'd left behind. 

Tony ran his fingers through his hair, trying to decide what to do next. After a while, his anger faded to a remorseful ache. He’d had a right to be angry, but he didn’t want Loki upset with him because he needed Loki right now. He didn’t want to be alone. The clicking of hooves approached just as he got up. Brynjar and Andor burst into the kitchen. 

They ran circles around the table before vanishing back into the hall. Tony watched them disappear with a frown. He’d always wondered why Loki kept them, but he’d never felt entirely confident in any of the answers he’d come up with. He wandered out to the garden.

Finding Loki was difficult, at first. Usually he was reading a book on one of the stone walls, or coaxing the poisonous plants into growing with carefully uttered incantations. Tony had to push past the overgrown brambles to find him. 

Loki was lying in the grass in the middle of an unkept section of the garden, drawing abstract patterns in light with his fingers. 

“Cool trick,” Tony said. “Don’t remember seeing you do that before.” Loki ignored him. The displeasure on his face grew deeper as the lights on his fingers shone brighter. 

Tony struggled to pass a thorny bush, getting tiny scrapes along his legs through his pants. He walked through the tall grass to stand over Loki. Again he was ignored. 

“Kinda lame though,” Tony said. “I could do better with an etch-a-sketch.” No change in Loki. Tony was still feeling a little pissy towards him, but he wanted Loki’s attention too. He’d take what he could get. “Blue and green. Is that all that you can do?” 

The colors on Loki’s fingertips flared into a thousand colors just to spite Tony. He said nothing, but the light morphed into a miniature dragon. It leapt towards Tony. 

Tony didn’t budge. The light passed through him. “Boring,” Tony said. 

“Perhaps you would like to dazzle us with your work?” Loki asked dryly. 

“Oh. Is yours supposed to be dazzling?” Tony asked. “Is that what you’re doing right now? I thought you were going for kinda dull and mildly show off-y.” 

“What do you want, Stark?” Loki sneered, glaring skyward. 

“Can you make a lion?” Tony asked, just to be annoying. 

“I have no interest in learning the dull wildlife of your realm,” Loki said. 

“It’s like a cat with a big mane,” Tony said. “But yeah, I guess you wouldn’t be able to do it.” 

“You’re not going to bait me with your poor attempts at wounding my pride,” Loki said. One arm disappeared to rest behind his head. The other curled at his side, abandoning the light drawings. 

“It’s not an insult,” Tony said. “Just the truth.” 

“Ah, perhaps I should highlight some of your truths then?” Loki suggested. Having something to snip at and argue with was calming him down. He wasn’t really upset with Tony, but he appreciated the chance to argue. It would distract him from the gloomy, discomforted feeling that was overpowering him. 

Tony set his hands on his hips, staring down at Loki. The sky above him was overcast. “You’d better choose carefully there, because you really don’t want to sleep on the couch tonight.” 

“Don’t I?” Loki asked, mildly interested in the answer. 

Tony grinned. “I don’t know, do you?” 

Loki smirked and went back to staring at the sky instead. It was great for a moment, perfectly contenting, until Tony chose to speak. “I’m just going to point this out,” Tony said, like he’d just thought of it, like he was just pointing out a fleck of dust on Loki’s shirt. “But if you’re feeling the need to be tied down to responsibility, the rams are kind of already like that. We have to find them a sitter, and clean up after them all the time, and they don’t listen. Only benefit to them really is that they don’t bite. Wait, no, I take that back.” 

Loki sat up. “What are you getting at?” He demanded. 

“Nothing,” Tony said. “Just thinking the rams are like having kids already, that’s all.” 

“They are not the same thing,” Loki snapped. Tony shrugged. It was clear from his face that Tony wasn’t entirely kidding, or willing to debate the point either. “If you’re implying that they’re an acceptable substitute—”

“Don’t,” Tony said. “I’m just making a point. And if you’re going to sulk all day out here, I’d rather put you to use somewhere else.” Loki just stared at him. “Come on,” Tony said. “Let’s go swindle some drunk gamblers or break out of a prison or something.” 

“I’m not in the mood for games.” Loki dropped back down onto the grass.

“You’re not?” Tony asked. 

“And don’t ever refer to our travels as _putting me to use_ again.” 

“That’s not what I meant,” Tony said, grinning. Loki didn’t follow him. He gave Tony a nasty sneer and then went back to ignoring him. “I was thinking more along the lines of you wearing your helmet for inappropriate purposes again.” 

Loki stared at Tony like he was considering it for a moment, then just as Tony thought he was going to agree, Loki ignored him. He folded his hands under his head as if he was sunbathing. Tony started to sigh. Then his feet were knocked out from under him. 

Tony tripped forwards, hands splaying out to catch himself, but Loki’s flew up and caught his chest. It knocked the wind out of him. Loki balanced Tony there just long enough for Tony to articulate that he wasn’t getting a mouthful of dirt before flipping them over and pinning Tony down. Tony sucked in a deep, shaky breath. “So you want to play games?” Loki asked. 

Tony grinned like he’d won. “I thought you weren’t in the mood for games,” he challenged Loki.

The god let a slow smile spread across his thin lips, his white teeth peeking out. “Perhaps,” he said. “You could persuade me otherwise.” 

Tony rocked his hips up. It was just what he wanted. “Shouldn’t you be persuading me?” Tony asked lazily. Loki’s thumbs traced Tony’s wrists, teasing the warm pulse there. 

“Do I need to?” Loki asked. Tony’s face was already getting that lusty haze to it. 

“I don’t know if you’re up to it,” Tony said. The smug look on his face was gone a second later. Loki ripped off the pajama bottoms that Tony had never bothered to change out of while materializing every last bit of his armor regalia on, except for the helmet. “It’s not really intimidating without the helmet, Loki.” Tony grinned, back to looking smug again. 

Loki reached inside of his boxers and grabbed his cock, just a fraction away from painful. “Isn’t it?” Loki asked, as if this bored him. Tony knew better. He knew that look in Loki’s eyes better than anyone. Under the metal and leather, he’d be rock hard at just the thought of having Tony pinned under him like this. The hand around his cock turned light and teasing. Tony tried ignore the fact that he was being coaxed to full hardness and instead folded his arms under his head as Loki had done earlier. 

“Are we really doing this here?” Tony asked. He flinched, bucking to the side as Loki’s thumb brushed over the head, his nail teasing at the slit. When Tony spoke, there was a lusty strain to his voice. “In the dirt, really?” 

“Yes,” Loki said. “It’s filthy like you.” 

Tony burst into laughter. He looked up and saw that Loki was smiling, fighting back his own laugh. “I can’t believe you’re going to try and kiss me with that dirty mouth,” Tony said. He reached up and set his hands on Loki’s hips. 

“Who said anything about kissing you?” Loki asked. “I’ve made no effort.” 

“But you want to,” Tony said. 

“Only in the dull hope of shutting you up,” Loki answered dryly. 

“Is this one of those magic-y bullshit times?” Tony asked, prodding him. “Or am I going to lay here all day while you play with me?” 

Loki made a little scoffing sound with an expression that made him look a few years younger. To reply, he yanked Tony’s boxers off with his hands. As Loki settled back down over him, Tony turned his head to the side like he was conceding to Loki making a point. Inwardly, he grinned. Stirring up the contrarian in Loki was the easiest way to trick Loki past the teasing that he was so fond of. 

Tony's heart pounded in his ears. His cock was dark and flushed in Loki’s pale hand, but Tony wasn’t desperate yet. He toyed with the leather over Loki’s hips, trying to find a seam. He’d had practice at this, and it was still a pain in the ass. “If you're going to take this long, I’d rather do it in bed. I’m going to get bug bites laying in this shit. And there’s grass everywhere, have I mentioned tha—aaa-ah.” He groaned, grabbing onto Loki’s shoulders as the god unceremoniously spread him open and shoved in. “So it is a magic-y—” Tony gasped as Loki shoved particularly hard, “bullshit—ti-ime.” 

“I wish you’d cease your chatter,” Loki hissed out. He buried himself deep, then refused to move, waiting until Tony acknowledged him. Tony blinked, his mouth open with a soundless pant as one leg shifted inarticulately. “Is this truly the time to complain about magic? Or would you rather I rode you into the ground dry?” He snapped his hips. Tony gasped and latched onto him harder, writhing his strained cock against the weight pinning him down. 

Tony clenched against the thick cock inside of him. He felt stretched and full. Loki gasped, his face contorting before he leant down and sucked the side of Tony’s neck. Tony moaned. His eyelids flickered open towards the cloudy sky as his whole body shook each time Loki’s frantic thrusts bottomed out. “I think I’m going—mm— to build a gazebo here,” Tony said. “I could keep a couple suits out here, may—ay—be start a spot for the—ugh— rams. What do you think?” 

Loki let out a ragged, exasperated moan. He bit Tony’s neck, just enough that Tony bowed up into him with a startled yelp. He looked down at Tony like he could’ve been amused if he wasn’t so frustrated. “Must you?” 

Tony smirked. “If I have time to talk—”

Loki grabbed his cock and tugged, shoving into him at the same time. Tony’s head fell back with a cry as he came over his chest. Loki rolled his eyes, worshipping the sight all the same. He knew that Tony spurred him on sometimes, but he didn’t really care. Sometimes he didn’t catch on until he was about to come. He finished with a few sloppy thrusts, licking and sucking at Tony’s bared neck. 

Tony’s hands wandered unknowingly around the armor on his back. Loki’s chest shook as he suppressed a laugh. Tony still hadn’t figured it out. He’d probably be trying for the next hundred years to figure out how to get that armor off in seconds. “Helmet would’ve been better,” Tony said, sounding almost self-conscious, like he’d realized what Loki was thinking.

Loki stood up, burning the image of Tony sprawled out and wrecked on the grass into his mind. The green reeds were bent back in the places they’d touched. Loki fixed his appearance as though nothing had happened. 

Tony glanced over and saw that Loki was standing on his boxers. He sighed and looked back up at the sky. Tony set one hand on his stomach. He wasn’t upset with Loki anymore. Loki didn’t vanish and leave him lying in the grass, so Tony figured that meant he’d calmed down a bit too. 

“What’re the neighbors going to think?” Tony asked. 

“We haven’t any,” Loki said, grinning after he saw that Tony was teasing with a light smile. Tony sat up slowly.

“Can I have my pants back?” 

Loki glanced down and stepped off of them. “Great, thanks,” Tony said, grabbing them and getting up to hike them back on. Loki waited for him to get dressed, making the stain on Tony’s shirt disappear without a word. They started walking back towards their home. “Don’t bring up going to Earth again for a while,” Tony said as they went around a flower bed. “You might be right,” he said tiredly, “but I can’t handle it right now.” 

Loki set his hands over his stomach. “But you are considering what I said,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. The word had a bite to it. 

Loki thought for a moment, but nothing he could think of to say seemed like it would have any desirable effect on Tony. He reached over and grabbed Tony’s waist, pulling the man into him. “Don’t get sentimental on me,” Tony said. He didn’t shrug Loki off. 

“Who said anything about being sentimental?” Loki asked. “Perhaps I am merely considering what I shall do with that body of yours next.” 

“Like a snake sizing up its prey,” Tony said. 

“Exactly.” 

Tony smiled at that. “I can think of a few things.” 

“If you mention the helmet yet again,” Loki warned. 

“I’m not,” Tony said. “But you just did, which means you were thinking about it.” 

Loki breathed in through his nose. “On second thought, perhaps I will retire to the study instead.” 

“Uh-huh,” Tony said. They fell silent. It was a comfortable walk back inside. They wandered back towards their bedroom without any urgency. Tony shut the door behind them and then sprawled out on the bed. Without a word, Loki followed him. He phased back into his clothes from that morning and laid over Tony’s chest, closing his eyes and tucking his chin over Tony’s collarbone. Without meaning to, Tony fell asleep. 

He found himself alone in a field.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter I've got a couple requests in the works :)


	61. Sick

The worst of it was that Tony didn’t recognize that anything was amiss until the late afternoon. 

He only left the lab to wander and look for his favorite green eyed distraction, hoping that talking with the god might trigger some new ideas on the project he was trying to complete. Loki wasn’t in the study, or lounging around somewhere. Tony only wandered out into the garden as a final attempt before throwing the towel in. 

He didn’t usually worry about Loki. If he wasn’t here, he was somewhere, and Tony knew he’d show up again. 

He hadn’t expected to find Loki face down on a desk, herbs and potions scattered around him. Tony burst forward, sprinting to Loki’s side and turning the god right side up, feeling as though his heart had stopped. Loki’s eyes flickered. In that second Tony could’ve cried. “Loki?” He asked, all sharp nerves. There was a whisper of a mumble, but that was all that Tony got. “Are you okay?” The question was pointless. “God,” Tony muttered. He tried to pick Loki up but it was difficult. 

Within a few seconds his suit was rocketing towards him. With its aid he got Loki into the house and onto the nearest sofa. “Fuck, shit,” Tony whispered, standing up. 

“He appears stable,” Jarvis said, cutting into his thoughts. 

“Then why’s he despondent, huh?” Tony asked. Jarvis didn’t have an answer. Tony held his hand to his mouth, cold metal pressing against his skin where the plate stood back from his face. 

He didn’t know what to do. 

They were on a planet in the middle of fucking nowhere, and he didn’t know what to do. 

They were in this fucking castle house of theirs surrounded by forests that even Loki wouldn’t fuck around with, as isolated as they could possibly be. 

Loki was always the one that transported them. Tony—Tony looked at the gold band on his wrist. He could call the Avengers, hope they saw the magic answering on their bands, hope that Thor or at least one of them would get to Thor who would figure out a way to find and get to Tony—but Thor wouldn’t be able to ask Heimdall to find them, Loki had told him that he’d shrouded this place from Asgard, fuck he wasn’t a damn doctor. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong, Jarv?” 

The AI politely paused for a few moments before answering, as if considering. “From what data is available, he appears stable.” 

Tony stared at the limp black hair plastered against Loki’s pallid face. He brushed a wet strand away. Something was definitely wrong. As if it wasn’t obvious enough, he could feel it in his gut. 

“I’m gonna go see what he was messing with, see if I can’t work something out, notify me immediately if something changes,” Tony said decisively. He thought nothing of keeping the suit on as he clambered back out to the garden. It comforted some place inside of him. 

Loki’s work table was a mess of plant clippings and a purple bottle with no label. There was a bowl in the center with a purple liquid that smelled both rancid and sweet. “What are we looking at?” Tony asked. Jarvis rattled off the names of the plants and their few known properties, but there was little to nothing to go off of. Tony hadn’t exactly made it a weekend project to catalogue all of Loki’s plants. “What about the bowl?” 

“…aside from a basic ph, I can discern nothing unusual about it.” 

Tony had heard enough. He hurried back inside. 

Once in, Tony had the suit disassemble, but stay in the room with him. It placed itself in the corner as Tony ran into the kitchen. He came back with a wet rag and a glass of water. 

Tony set the glass on a table and knelt down beside the sofa. He carefully plastered the rag across Loki’s forehead. He took Loki’s hand in his. It was warm, which was frighteningly reassuring. “Loki,” he said quietly. “Wake up.” 

He held his breath for a second, like his plea might work. Nothing. Tony sat there, frantically trying to work out what to do next when he heard the roomba fly in. It smacked him in the ass. 

The rams squealed, but didn’t have the nerve to fly off of the thing they’d jammed themselves onto. “Get out!” Tony snapped. The rams stared blankly, perhaps wondering why one-who-doesn’t-like-to-be-touched was bothering cunning-and-feeding-one, but lost interest the moment the roomba took off in a new direction. Tony groaned and set his forehead against the couch. 

He’d use the damn bracelet thing and pray that Loki’s magic worked. 

Just as he’d made the decision, there was a slight moan beside him. “Loki?” 

“—ter,” he mumbled. 

Tony immediately scrambled for the glass. He held it delicately to Loki’s lips. The water drained slowly, but Loki didn’t open his eyes. “Can you hear me?” Tony asked. Loki’s head rolled slightly towards him, but that was it. “I’m going to call somebody,” Tony said. Loki’s eyes rolled open. It appeared to be with considerable effort, and he didn’t seem able to find Tony to focus on. Tony leaned in over him until green eyes found his. “I’ll call someone, I’ll use the bracelets—”

“No.” 

“Loki, you’re—”

“Fine.” His eyes fell shut again. “Merely a—potion. Time.” 

“But—”

“Water,” Loki gritted out. Tony obeyed instantly. He’d never seen Loki so vulnerable. “Bring me to bed,” Loki said, fighting to make the words come together. “It is a mistake. It will wear off.” 

“Are you sure?” Tony asked, but Loki already appeared to be nodding off. Tony was too rattled to be embarrassed at needing the suit to carry the god’s lanky, Asgardian weight figure down the hallways and to their bedroom. Only once Loki had been carefully laid down and made comfortable did Tony disengage the suit. 

He sat down beside Loki, brushing Loki’s hair back from his face. Tony had thought that Loki was asleep until Loki gritted out, “let me sleep.” One hand flopped against the bed. “Your thoughts—too loud.” 

“Can I do anything?” Tony asked. 

“Let me sleep,” Loki said. 

The answer wasn’t good enough for Tony. He moved in to sit beside Loki, brushing his fingers through the god’s long hair. He could not let go. It was unfathomable to see Loki like this, and Tony had never really stopped to consider just how unbreakable Loki seemed. Even after the apple, Tony was not infallible. He was far closer to Loki in strength than he had ever been, but Loki was still Asgardian in ways that Tony was human. 

“I’m sick,” Loki muttered. He could practically feel Tony’s tension and unease seeping into his skin. The fingers in his hair were a reassurance to the spinning in his head, and the ache in his muscles, but he couldn’t fall asleep so easily when sensing Tony’s discomfort. It set him on edge. “Go feed the pets.” 

“You’re sick,” Tony said, letting that be an argument enough. Loki let out a long sigh. His face was damp with a cold sweat. 

“Please,” he whispered out. 

It was harrowing enough that Tony stood from the bed. “I’ll be right back,” he promised. Loki didn’t have the strength to answer. He simply turned his head away from Tony on the pillow and finally let go, falling asleep. 

 

Tony wandered out into the hall, looking for the rams. He knew they didn’t need to be fed, but Loki had told him to feed them, and right now he needed to listen to Loki. He couldn’t let this one slide or lie about doing it. 

Naturally, the rams were nowhere to be found. 

Tony called for them, yelling their names down the halls when he was out of earshot of the bedroom, but they didn’t come. 

Tony wandered down one of the lesser used corridors. They just had to choose now to disappear on him, the fuckers. 

Tony rounded the corner and spotted Brynjar, his eyes brightly lit and body tense as he watched something. “What did you get—ohmygod!” Tony clasped his hand to his mouth. 

A roach the size of Andor scuttled up the wall, running from the ram that had been pursuing it. “Where the fuck did that come from?” Tony demanded, signaling a gauntlet to come. Brynjar made a rollicking sound, almost like a laugh, glancing towards him. Only then did Tony notice the green gem ball lying against the far wall, beside a roach of the same type, only infinitely smaller. Tony knelt down and snatched Brynjar up by the fur, then held out his hand for the ever faithful gauntlet to mold to. 

Andor was attempting to scale the wall but failing, apparently delighted at pursuing its prey. Tony shot the bug down in an instant. Andor squealed miserably. “What is wrong with you?” Tony asked, attempting to catch the damn thing by its fur. “Now is not the time for this bullshit, if I didn’t know better I’d say you—fuck, did you get into Loki’s magical shit? You’re lucky enlarging shit is the only thing you got ahold of, take your toys to play somewhere else.” Tony kicked the ball back down the hall. Andor ignored it. 

The ram issued a tiny bleat up at him. Brynjar’s tiny feet started running in earnest, but Tony didn't let go. This time, Tony caught Andor. “I can’t deal with this shit right now,” Tony said. He marched back down the hall, taking a different route to go by the kitchen. 

That was when he discovered they’d wrecked another room. There were holes in the furniture, shattered glasses, and a smattering of mud on the carpet. Tony let out a frustrated groan. “He said he was going to train you out of this shit—” Tony started, but the fire was gone the second he thought of Loki. He had to get back. 

Tony changed course and went to the lab instead. He unceremoniously dropped the rams into their enclosure. The gauntlet was left on the desk. He had many stashed throughout the premises. He’d send this one back to its proper place later. Tony rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the first box of food he found. Cheese crackers. 

He brought them right back down to the lab and dumped them inside of the enclosure. Andor sniffed at them while Brynjar gave Tony a haughty pout. Tony tossed the empty box in the trash. “Save it,” Tony told him. 

He practically jogged back to the bedroom. 

Loki hadn’t moved in the slightest, though his breathing was easier now. Tony sat down gently on the bed. He wanted to run his fingers in Loki’s hair, god he did. But he also didn’t want to wake Loki up. 

Instead he clasped his hands together and stared at him, feeling woefully out of his depth. How many times had Loki found him sick before the apple? Loki had been almost compulsive about checking him for an illness, and Tony shrugged it off most of the time. Now he understood. This was awful.

Tony dropped his head back against the headboard with a thunk. 

He closed his eyes. 

He couldn’t do this alone. It was too much. Loki rolled over beside him. “Loki?” Tony asked in a near whisper. 

“I’m cold,” Loki muttered. 

“I’ll get blankets,” Tony said, starting to rise from the bed. Loki’s eyes flickered open. Tony knew what he needed from the look alone. Tony sat back down, pulling the covers back so that he could slip in beside Loki. He pulled Loki in against his chest, protectively setting his chin over the god for a moment. 

Loki felt the tension drain from his body in the same moment. Tony was so wonderfully good at being comforting, though he probably never realized it. Loki thought he should probably tell him, later, in a quiet moment when he didn’t feel like he might fall out of his body. Tony’s hand massaged the small of his back, his fingers delightfully warm. Loki slipped into the comfort and back asleep despite his best efforts to stay awake. 

 

Tony didn’t fall asleep until the early morning hours. Somewhere in the night Loki improved perceptibly; his cold sweat left and his temperature felt more like what Tony was used to. He didn’t remember drifting off. 

 

Loki woke to Tony’s snoring. The man looked worse of than he. Loki sat up and rubbed his forehead. He did not feel well, but he no longer felt so awful. He set a hand on Tony’s shoulder. Somehow, the action was comforting. Tony woke a little while later to find Loki sitting propped up in the bed. “Feeling better?” Tony asked, voice sleepy. 

Loki smiled. “Somewhat.” Tony pulled himself up to sit beside Loki, one hand setting on Loki’s knee. His other hand came to rest against the side of Loki’s face. His cheek was too warm now. Tony frowned. 

“You still feel a little sick.” 

Loki closed his eyes a moment and breathed. “I’ll manage.” He opened his eyes with a light smile. “It is not as if I have anywhere I have to be.” 

The hand on his cheek left as Tony leaned in against the headboard, staring into Loki’s eyes with an openness he seldom glimpsed between their games. “What happened yesterday?” Tony asked. 

Loki didn’t answer at first, studying the intricacies of the rich brown in Tony’s iris instead. “I was mixing ingredients in an experimental spell, and used too much of one of them. I hadn’t expected it to react as it did.” 

“It’s magic,” Tony said, the word inflected with light disdain. He had stopped fussing at the word ages ago, and only brought the prior disdain back now for show. Loki grinned a little, remembering Tony’s earlier rants against magic with fondness. “Should you really be experimenting with it?” 

“As if you don’t experiment with physics and mechanics in your own lab day and night,” Loki answered. Tony had to concede to that. After a moment he leaned in and pressed his lips to Loki’s neck like a prayer. 

“I don’t like seeing you like that,” Tony confessed, whispering the words against Loki’s neck before pressing a few kisses up close to his jawline. Loki’s fingers wound into his hair. “Loki, we have to come up with a plan, if something happens to you, I can’t be isolated in the middle of nowhere without help—”

“It won’t,” Loki said, his grip tightening in Tony’s hair. He kissed Tony’s cheekbone. 

“Loki,” Tony said firmly. “Things happen. I need a way to get help if something—”

“Have we not been fine before?” Loki asked. He released Tony’s hair, withdrawing into himself. Tony sat back with a sigh. His first reaction was to argue, but he had learned better ways of reasoning with Loki. Tony wound his fingers back into Loki’s hair, and taking that they were allowed as a good sign, he straddled himself over Loki’s lap. 

The god’s arms crossed over his chest. Tony’s hands came in to cup his pale face. “Loki,” Tony said softly. “I need you.” He felt the body beneath him relax, though those green eyes looked elsewhere. “Would you leave me to manage those demonic rams on my own?” Loki grinned, uncrossing his arms and grabbing Tony’s hips instead. 

“I am sure you would do well.” 

“They got into your magical shit,” Tony said. “They enlarged a damn roach to spar with.” 

“I don’t have anything that will do that,” Loki said, confusion in his voice. Tony didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Loki knew he’d have to investigate later, when he was well. 

“They wrecked one of the rooms,” Tony said. His thumbs brushed over Loki’s cheeks. “Besides, I need you.” 

“Because of the sex?” 

“Exactly,” Tony said, with a grin to match Loki’s. “And I love you,” he added softly. 

Loki stared at Tony. This must have upset him far more than Loki had realized. “I love you,” he answered quietly, reassuringly. Tony’s thumbs soothed his cheeks as Tony fell silent. “Perhaps I should get ill more often,” Loki teased him, unable to bear the look on Tony’s face any longer. “I do believe it has been some time since you have offered me any praise.” 

Tony scoffed. “I think you’re all better,” he said, letting go of Loki’s face. Immediately, Loki missed the contact. 

“I’m hungry,” Loki said. 

Tony stared at him a moment before relenting, moving off of Loki and sitting back on the bed. “Fine, I’ll bring you breakfast in bed, but only because you still look sick.” 

“How flattering.” 

Tony patted his shoulder before getting out of the bed and heading towards the door. It relieved him beyond words to have Loki talking back to him. The previous day had been unbearable. 

Tony returned a while later with a reasonably edible meal. Loki picked out the burnt bits without comment. They sat in silence with their legs touching each other. Tony held a cup of coffee in his hands and occasionally watched Loki eat. When the god had finished, Tony took his tray and set it on the nightstand. 

Loki waited a minute before casually saying, “I would like to finish the book I’ve been reading.” 

Tony smirked and rolled his eyes, but got up without a word. He disappeared with the tray and returned quickly with the book Loki had been indulging in the past few days. Loki carefully opened the pages, smoothing the paper beneath his fingers. Tony had brought his tablet and crawled right back in beside Loki. 

A few minutes passed before Loki said, without glancing up, “a tea might make this headache go away.” 

“The one in the blue tin or that stuff you keep in the bottom cabinet?” Was all that Tony had to say. 

“The bottom cabinet.” 

The bed bounced as Tony got off. 

He returned with the tea, and then more blankets, and sweets, and a journal, and pens, and anything that was requested of him. When he wasn’t taking requests, he was wedged in beside Loki, never without some point of contact. Loki woke up in the mid afternoon to find that he’d dozed off. Tony had taken the book out from beneath him and managed to lay him down in the bed without waking him. Loki must’ve needed the sleep. Tony’s arm was over him, his chest pressed to Loki’s back. 

He thought that Tony was asleep, but when Loki started to pull away to get up, Tony sat up. Loki turned over his shoulder to find that Tony was smiling at him. He returned the smile and shook his head, then got up and went to the bathroom. Tony was on his tablet when he got back. 

The day went in the same pattern, until Loki ran out of things to request and settled for suggesting that Tony massage his back. Though Tony occasionally poked fun at him, not once did he complain. Loki almost felt sorry for being unwell. 

He was needy for those points of contact, and shifted with Tony so they were never broken. 

He fell asleep in the early evening hours, listening to Tony’s tablet beep and chime with some game. 

 

The next morning, Loki woke Tony up. He played with his fingers along Tony’s arm, waiting for the man to stir. Tony groaned. “Tony,” Loki said, voice all silk and persuasion. “I am terribly hungry. Will you make me breakfast? Use the berries in the kitchen, they’re going to spoil soon.” 

Tony reached across the bed and set his hand on Loki’s forehead. “Anything else?” 

“Tea. And you allowed it to steep for too long yesterday, pay attention to what you’re doing. And don’t burn anything—” Tony’s hand retracted. He sat up in the bed. 

“Yeah,” Tony said, grinning. “I think you’re fine.” 

“Tony,” Loki said pitifully, trying to lure him in. 

“If you want breakfast, you can come get it,” Tony said. He got out of bed, ignoring Loki’s pleas as he walked out the door. Tony went to the kitchen. Loki had joined him even before the coffee was made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a sick fic prompt fill, I can never say no to sick fic :)


	62. Miserable

Tony was fairly accustomed to finding Loki in the kitchen as the dinner hour approached. The god insisted on sharing a meal more often than not, and Tony felt slightly proud of himself for surfacing out of the lab ahead of schedule. Tony got himself something to drink and sat down, expecting Loki to appear shortly. It was a while before it became obvious that Loki wouldn’t be showing up any time soon. Tony decided to go look for him. 

He searched the better half of their castle home before he found Loki crouched down in the musty hallway, right where Tony’s encounter with the rams and the roach had been. 

“Uhh,” Tony said eloquently. “Did you drop a penny on the floor?” Loki’s arm extended back towards him, his fist clutching onto something, but Loki didn’t turn around. Tony hesitantly reached out for it. 

A small gold chain careened down from Loki’s hand and into Tony’s open palm. There was a clear, sphere shaped crystal attached as a pendant. “Jewelry?” Tony asked. “Loki, you know I don’t wear—shit. Did I forget an anniversary? Is it your birthday? Mine?” 

“It’s a method of contact,” Loki said. His voice echoed off the walls as he scratched at something on the ground. “If you hold it before your face as a mirror and call for Heimdall, he will answer you.” Tony’s eyes darted to the back of Loki’s head. “Don’t ever use it.” 

“That seems a bit counterproductive,” Tony said, sticking it in his pocket. Loki rose, brushing his hands off on his pants. Tony knew better than to push. He was amazed that Loki had given him the device at all, and pleased at the small mark of progress for his ever stubborn partner that it was. “What were you doing?” 

Loki was sneering as if he’d tasted something particularly bitter and unpleasant. “That roach that our pets were toying with the other day. It shouldn’t have existed.” He crossed his arms and gave the wall a critical look like it had personally offended him. “It was magically enhanced, but I can find no cause.” 

Tony stuck his thumbs in his belt loops. “Are you sure that our little darlings didn’t do it?” 

Loki stared, unimpressed, at him. “Don’t be ridiculous.” 

“They were having a good time with it,” Tony said. “Maybe some of your magic wore off onto them and they wanted one of the roaches to be bigger, so it was.” 

“I’ve told you,” Loki said. “They didn’t get into any of my things. My magic would not simply wear off onto them—there has to be something I’m not seeing. Something is amiss.” 

“You’re always saying that these woods are full of magic,” Tony said. “Maybe it’s something out there.” Loki shook his head. Tony knew that look. “Come on,” he said, reaching for Loki’s hand. “I’m hungry. You can play detective later.” He tugged, but Loki didn’t budge. 

Then Loki relented and took a few steps. Tony’s hand disappeared when he did, but Tony stayed close. “I forgot. Earlier, some mail came in. It’s sitting on the table.” 

“Let us see what Mother wants this time,” Loki said irritably. 

 

Tony was chewing a tremendous portion of pasta when Loki started opening his mail. The god left his food half finished as he flipped through the first couple of letters with agitation. Then, the color drained out of his face. “What?” Tony asked with a mouthful of food. 

“Nothing. I’m not going.” 

It hurt when Tony swallowed. “What?” He demanded. “What’s it say?” He reached for his drink as his eyes watered.

“Thor is receiving an honor and Mother demands that I attend the ceremony. My status as prince wanes without my attendance. There are rumors questioning me.” He dropped the letter onto the table. “It is merely a formality. If I were to appear tomorrow, it would change nothing. I am a prince regardless.” 

“You should go,” Tony said. 

“No,” Loki said, reaching for his meal. 

Tony watched him, building up his courage. Pressing on this sore spot could lead to a nasty fight. “We’re kind of on thin ice with them as it is. I mean, your mom did tell you not to come back and only just started sending letters again. Maybe you should go and smooth over a few rumpled feathers.” Loki picked at his food as if he hadn’t heard. “Would you be in danger?” 

“No.” 

“Then go,” Tony said. “It’ll only be a couple days.” 

Loki ate quietly, his eyes never leaving his plate. Tony thought he was getting the silent treatment until Loki said, “if I go, then you will stay on Midgard.” 

“No, my lab’s better here,” Tony said lightly. “It’d just be a hassle. You go do all your princely things and Jarvis and I will have fun here. Besides, the rams hate moving.” 

“I cannot recall the last time that you went to Midgard.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. We were there last week,” Tony said. He shoved some food into his mouth and reached for his tablet.

“Really?” Loki asked. 

Tony nodded his head. 

“It’s been months,” Loki said. “At the very least.” 

“No it hasn’t,” Tony said. He was already willing to drop encouraging Loki to visit Asgard if it meant avoiding this conversation. Loki was not so easily swayed. He knew that he needed to make an appearance back on Asgard, as much as he loathed it, if he wanted to keep the relationships there mildly amicable. He could at least get something out of it with Tony. Tony needed to spend some time on his home realm. 

“I would feel more at ease with you among your friends,” Loki said. 

“I’ll be fine here,” Tony said. “Here, I’m not a wanted man.” 

“Then I have no intention of visiting Asgard.” They fell silent. Loki ate, waiting for Tony to break. Tony always encouraged him to visit Asgard in much the same way that he encouraged Tony to visit Midgard. Tony was misguided while he was right, of course, but Loki knew how to play it all the same. 

“Thor won’t mind you not going,” Tony said. 

“Really, Tony. You know just as well as I do that he will expect me to attend. I suppose that he’ll start showing up here to persuade me,” Loki said. “I am meant to respond to my invitation. I imagine that he and Mother will visit.” 

Tony bit down on his cheek. He did not want to run into mother dearest. Loki visiting her was all well and good. Loki needed to visit her sometimes, but Tony didn’t need to meet up with her. Or Thor. Thor would guilt trip the hell out of him. And ask for his help persuading Loki to go to the stupid event. And then he’d be stuck in the middle of it. “Maybe you should just go,” Tony suggested. 

“I cannot leave you here alone,” Loki said. “These forests are filled with unspeakable creatures, and you would be utterly alone on a planet and realm with no contacts. I will not have it.” 

“I have the communicator thing,” Tony said. He was relenting. He didn’t like thinking about Loki’s last point. It was fine when Loki was here and well, but when he wasn’t… Not after Loki had gotten sick. Tony wasn’t comfortable being alone anymore. 

“A poor substitute for a sentient being. What if you were unable to call for help? Jarvis cannot access the device I gave you. It is Midgard or nothing.” 

Tony dropped his fork. “Fine,” he said. 

“Then it’s agreed,” Loki said. 

Neither was particularly happy. Both still thought they'd played the other.

***

Tony arrived in his tower with the rams in tow, along with a handful of devices to keep him busy. He intended to retreat into his lab after a few quick hellos and wait out the next couple days until Loki was back. He’d promised it would only be two days. Tony didn’t see him for an entire week.

***

Tony was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling on a pair of socks and hoping that he’d be lucky enough to sleep without a nightmare, when he heard the his bedroom door open. He looked up, expecting Clint or Steve. His face relaxed in sheer relief when he realized that it was Loki.

There were dark circles beneath the god’s eyes and an aching misery to his tired steps. He was still dressed in his most elaborate Asgardian gear. Tony got up off the bed. They met halfway. Tony slumped against Loki, shamelessly pulling him in and latching on. 

Loki carded his fingers through the man’s hair. Tony had looked so tired and pitiful on the end of the bed. There were heavy bags beneath his eyes, and a suspicious lack of grease or lab detritus. He bent down and breathed the scent of Tony in, keeping one hand possessively in his hair while the other pulled Tony in tighter. 

“How was Asgard?” 

“Miserable.” He muttered into Tony’s hair, refusing or unable to let go. “Midgard?” 

“Sucked.” Tony edged his nose into a seam in Loki’s leathers, not giving a damn about the slight chemical scent. They stood there for a few minutes until Tony reluctantly suggested that they lay down on the bed. Loki had zero objections. He laid on his side and pulled Tony in, as if his limbs were a net around the man. Tony spoke into his chest. “Why’d your week suck?” 

“They questioned you,” Loki said. He felt Tony go stiff in his arms. “They seem to think you hold some sway over me,” Loki said, massaging his fingers against the back of Tony’s neck. “I believe that they feel something is amiss when I am not clamoring to take the throne, right now.” Tony breathed in deeply, worming himself in as much as physically possible. 

“Is that why you were gone so long?” Tony asked, not meaning for it to sound like a complaint, even though it did. 

“Yes.” Loki closed his eyes. “I had to play politics for longer than I liked.” This was the first time he had felt at ease in over a week. Tony’s scent was safe. Tony’s weight against his body was solid and real and safe. 

Tony was grateful for the way that Loki was holding him. He felt invulnerable, like Loki could protect him from anything. It made his next question seem like it was silly, even though he knew it wasn’t. “Are we going to be okay?” 

Loki waited a few seconds before giving an answer. “Yes,” he said. Tony wasn’t sure if it was a lie. “And you?” Loki asked. “What of your week?” 

“Rhodey has a kid,” Tony muttered. He fidgeted. Loki allowed the movement, but quickly re-enveloped him. “I’m a shitty friend.” He felt Loki moving to look at him and buried his face into the god’s chest to prevent it. “She’s a few months old. I wasn’t there for any of it.” Loki’s fingers resumed their steady massage. They were quiet for a few minutes. 

“Perhaps we should stay here a while.” 

“Probably,” Tony quietly admitted. 

The room returned to silence. Loki called to Jarvis to extinguish the lights. Neither had the energy for anything else. They fell into silent, tired exhaustion, each quickly falling into the first restful sleep they’d had since their departure.


	63. A Small Distinction

Loki stood back a few feet from Tony, watching the man attempt to charm a three month old baby. Rhodey kept encouraging him, acting as if Tony could easily get the hang of it, and seemingly amused by the whole ordeal. Tony handled the baby like porcelain. 

This was not Tony’s first visit, but now that Loki was back, Tony insisted on having Loki come along. Loki had simultaneously been overcome with the want of seeing Tony with a child, and overcome with the grief of knowing that it could easily break his heart. 

The girl stuck her hand into her mouth, earning a delightfully unusual sound from Tony. Rhodey laughed, clearly endeared by his friend’s enthusiasm. 

Loki folded his arms over his chest.

It would be so much simpler for them on so many levels if Tony would just agree to the idea of a child. 

“Do you want to hold her?” Rhodey asked. Loki realized that he was being addressed. He took a few quiet steps forward and accepted the child, easily cradling her in his arms. He avoided a glance in Tony’s direction. He did not want to see the man’s expression. 

She was beautiful. 

He expressed the thought to Rhodey, then spent the next several minutes discussing her developmental milestones as she started falling asleep. Tony stayed out of the conversation, but Loki caught Tony trying to catch the baby’s attention several times out of the corner of his eye. When Rhodey took her back and left to put her in her crib, Tony leaned in against Loki, finally getting the attention he’d been seeking. 

“What?” Loki asked. 

“Nothing,” Tony said. 

When Rhodey came back they hung out for a while, though it was mostly Tony and Rhodey talking. Loki said nothing about the day’s events when they got home. 

He was about to go have a bath when Tony stepped in his way deliberately. Loki’s eyes narrowed. Tony flipped the phone in his hand into the air and caught it. He said nothing, making it clear that he expected Loki to be the one to talk. 

“I wish to go and bathe, unless you would like to join me?” 

Tony stared, studying him closely. “Stark,” Loki warned. 

“No, you go ahead,” Tony said. Loki looked at him curiously, then took a few paces in the direction of the bath. “Thanks,” Tony said behind him. 

Loki turned around slowly. “For what?” 

“Not saying anything,” Tony said. “I know how hard it is for you, with kids…” Tony glanced up at the ceiling and scratched along his neck. “I saw the way you looked at Rhodey’s kid today. I know you—I know it’s hard for you. About us, and me, and—thanks.” 

Loki lightly bit on his lips. He nodded his head, then turned back and continued on to the bath.


	64. A Dedication

Loki found Tony lying across the couch in the tower common room, watching the dull, incessant news reports that Midgard was so fond of.

He slinked up quietly behind Tony, leaning down and slipping his arms around Tony’s chest as he leaned in towards Tony’s ear. Tony flinched. “It’s just me,” he whispered darkly, sliding his tongue along the soft shell of Tony’s ear. 

Tony leaned his head away. “Yeah. I figured that Clint wouldn’t do that.” 

Loki’s voice returned to his ear. “Would you like to disappear from this realm for a few hours?” 

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “Nah. I’m tired. I’d rather stay here.” 

Now that Loki considered it, Tony did sound tired. He stood up, straightening his spine and raising his head. “Have you not been complaining of _cabin fever_?” He asked, seduction wiped clean from his tone. 

Tony sighed. “Yeah, I have. Just not right now, okay?” He turned to look back over his shoulder, and the moment Loki made contact with his eyes, he knew that something was amiss. 

Perhaps it was just more of the ever growing melancholy Tony had over his mortal friends’ fleeting lives. 

In a hundred years, Tony would be in disbelief over how quickly these days passed. For now, Loki tried being delicate with him. 

“Very well,” he decided, lingering for a moment incase Tony changed his mind. Then he was gone. 

 

Loki was asleep when Tony came to bed that night. He barely registered waking as the man got in, but in the morning, Tony was gone again. 

Loki asked Jarvis for his whereabouts immediately. 

“In the lab, Sir.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, wondering why he’d bothered to worry.  

He sat up. Then a thought occurred. “Doing what, precisely?” 

“Reviewing news footage,” Jarvis said with a particular quirk to his voice. Loki tossed the covers aside. “Shall I alert him for you?”

“No,” Loki said, vanishing into the lab. 

He spotted Tony hunched over his desk, his head propped up on his arm. He was watching a large display of the morning news on the wall, but as far as Loki could tell, there was nothing remarkable about it. The broadcasters were fawning over young dogs in some odd, costumed procession. 

Loki took a deep breath. Maybe _he_ needed to be off of Midgard today. 

“Tony,” Loki announced. Tony turned around with a yawn. He was still in his pajamas. “I’m going to travel—" Brynjar was in Tony’s lap. That was odd. Loki recovered from stumbling over his words. “Travel the markets of a few other realms today.” 

“Okay.” 

“Do you wish to come?” 

Tony yawned again, and Loki could’ve sworn that it was an act. “I’m alright,” Tony said. “You go have fun. Don’t do anything I would do.” 

“Shall I bring you back a trifle?” Tony looked down at Brynjar, running his fingers into the beady eyed ram’s fur. Tony shook his head. Loki took a few slow, meandering steps across the room until he reached Tony’s desk. He ran his cold hand along the man’s warm, stubble rich cheek. “Are you well?” 

“Yep,” Tony said, clipped. He flashed a smile at Loki. 

Loki glared. “Fine,” Tony insisted. “See? I’m good. You go run your errands.” 

Loki regarded him for another moment before disappearing. 

 

Loki didn’t recognize how Tony’s standoffishness was effecting him until he found himself with half a bag of swindled goods at the market and a heavy dissatisfaction at how easy they had been to con. He decided that he would go back and demand the reason behind Tony’s mood whether the man liked it or not. 

 

“One baseball cap isn’t going to hide that, Tony,” Natasha hissed. Loki froze where he was. 

Natasha was standing in front of the arm chair where Tony was doing his best impression of indifference while his ever emotive face gave him away. The anger there easily rivaled Natasha’s. 

Steve was hovering off to the side. He noticed Loki standing there just as Tony said, “It works all the time.” 

“Shield doesn’t fall for baseball caps!” Natasha kicked the side of Tony’s chair in frustration. Loki had never seen her come unhinged. Whatever was upsetting her must’ve been remarkable.

“You talk some sense into him,” Steve told Loki. 

Natasha and Tony turned around. Tony was not happy to see him. He looked away immediately, the anger in him pinching tight. “You know what,” Tony said, standing up. “It’s fine. Forget that I said anything.” 

“Forget what?” Loki asked. 

“Who gets to deal in our poker game,” Tony said. “I’m going back downstairs.” Loki hurried after him into the elevator. Tony slammed the button for the next floor. 

“Tony,” Loki barked. 

“Don’t,” Tony snapped back. He bristled, then reined himself in as Loki glowered at him. “Just going to go color in my coloring book, alright? I thought you were supposed to be at your shop-a-thon? Things weren’t on sale?” He walked backwards onto Clint’s floor. “Don’t follow me,” he said as Loki took a step forward. 

Loki was on the edge of a threat when he spotted Clint stepping warily into the room. “This is not done,” he told Tony, pressing the elevator doors shut.

 

Loki went to Natasha instead. “No,” she said, the instant that she saw him. “You need to work it out with him.” 

“How can I work on something when I have no inclination as to what it is?” He asked her, somewhat rhetorically. 

Natasha considered him for a moment before nodding her head towards the kitchen table. “Have you read a newspaper lately?” She grabbed her coffee and started walking towards the elevator. “I’ve already done the crossword, but Steve’s done with it if you’re interested.” 

Loki glanced towards the wide table. Natasha smirked at him before disappearing inside the elevator. Slowly, Loki went to the table and sat down. 

The cheap paper bled ink onto his fingers as he pulled its pages open. 

He read quickly. There were reports of war, weather, trivialities. He thought that he’d fallen for one of Natasha’s tricks when he set eyes on a mundane photograph of a park and glimpsed upon Tony’s name. 

_A memorial sculpture of Iron Man will be dedicated this Sunday in Central Park. Thousands are expected to attend the ceremony to pay tribute to the hero that saved this city from extraterrestrial warfare nearly a decade ago. Officials say that the uncertain circumstances around Tony Stark’s disappearance and assumed passing may cause a higher turnout than expected. Attendees are asked to consider limiting the number of memorial items they leave behind._

Loki swallowed hard. 

Beneath that was an impassioned opinion piece about how beloved Tony was, with the subtle suggestion that someone had done him wrong and that it had been covered up with official lies. There was more than one hint of a conspiracy theory.  

Loki’s eyes pricked as he reached the end of it. He took a deep breath, pressing his hand to his mouth. He closed his eyes. He needed to decide how he was going to handle this. 

 

Tony woke up to a gold bracelet on the nightstand beside his head. There was a small, scribbled note beside it. _This will disguise you any way you wish._

 

Loki startled as his bathroom door flew open and smacked the wall as Tony stomped in. Loki sighed at the wine he’d now spilled into his bath. He set the glass on the brim of the caddy perched over the deep claw foot tub. He set the book in his other hand down beside it. “If you wished to join me, you could have asked,” Loki said dryly. “There is no need to act scorned.” 

“Who told you?” Tony demanded. Loki noticed the golden bracelet clenched in his fist but said nothing. 

“Told me what?” Loki asked, pouring a bottle of shimmering liquid into the tub. 

“Don’t play dumb,” Tony scolded him. “Why else would you suddenly give me a disguise bracelet?” Loki waved his feet back and forth in the tub, causing a fresh cloud of bubbles to rise. “And don’t I have enough of these things?” Tony asked. “Would it kill you to give me a watch or something?” 

“Gold retains spell work better,” Loki said glibly.

“Bullshit.” 

Loki grabbed a cube of cheese off of the plate on the bath caddy, choosing to ignore Tony now. He heard Tony pace towards the sink as he pressed the cheese cube between his lips. “Who told you?” Tony asked, calmer now. 

“I saw the paper, Tony.” 

“Steve,” Tony swore. “He knows how to use a Stark Pad, the nostalgic bastard.” 

“Steve did not show me.” 

“Natasha.” 

Loki grabbed another cheese cube. 

Tony held his crossed arms tightly against himself as he leaned on the bathroom countertop. “Thanks,” Tony said begrudgingly. 

Loki’s fingers slipped around his wine glass. Red liquid spun as he tilted the glass. “Why did you not simply ask me?” 

Tony leaned off the countertop like he was about to leave. The bathroom door swung shut. Loki made sure it was locked without moving a muscle. “Cheater,” Tony muttered.

Loki sipped from his glass. He was starting to feel light headed, but he gave no sign of it, or the ache in his chest. 

Tony played with the bracelet. 

“Why are you still angry?” Loki asked coldly. 

“I’m not angry at you,” Tony said. 

“But you are,” Loki answered.

Tony shoved the bracelet into his back pocket. He kept his distance from the tub. “I was just thinking about the invasion, that’s all.” 

They were quiet for a couple of minutes. Loki took a long, hard drink from his glass, draining it. He heard Tony sigh. “Tony.” Loki licked his lips. “I’m sorry.” 

Tony huffed out a quick, quiet breath. “You know, I think that’s the first time you’ve apologized to me for it.” 

His words hung in the air, weighing heavily on Loki. 

“I did what I had to do,” Loki said. 

Tony pressed his lips together. He spoke quietly. “Did you?” 

Loki turned towards him, eyes glossy. “Because the way you tell it Lo,” Tony said, hard but not without compassion, “You made those choices.”

Loki stared down at the milky bathwater. 

“I made peace with the fact that I love the guy that lead one of the worst days of my life ages ago,” Tony said. He sounded so steady and assured. Loki was envious. “But don’t tell me that you can’t be held responsible for what happened. You held that scepter to my chest, Loki, not Thanos.” 

“I know!” Loki snapped. He turned away from Tony, feeling horrifically exposed in the bathtub. He reached for his wine glass and found it empty. Tony took a few steps in the direction of the door and Loki spun around in the tub in his direction, spilling water over the side. “Tony,” he pleaded. “I didn’t—”

Tony came over to the side of the tub. He sat down on the ledge, on the opposite end of where Loki sat. “I didn’t know how things would turn out,” Loki said. 

“Neither did I,” Tony said. 

Water dripped down Loki’s chest from the wet ends of his hair. He spoke to the bathwater. “I didn’t value your realm or the people within it.” Tony crossed his arms but didn’t look away. “I only saw my own ends and I chose terrible allies.” Tony nodded his head solemnly, like this was old news. “But I hardly knew myself then. I’ve changed since we’ve met, Tony.” 

Tony leaned in and grabbed a cheese cube off the tray. “I know,” he said, catching Loki’s plaintive stare. “A year ago I would’ve had to coerce that sorry out of you.” 

The drinking was probably helping it to slip out too, but Tony was kind enough not to point that out. 

Loki’s hands disappeared into the bathwater. “Then why did you keep the memorial dedication from me?” 

Tony sighed, shaking his head. “I didn’t want to talk about it,” Tony said. “It reminds me that I’m an asshole that left my friends here to go running around the realms. And it’s been great, don’t get me wrong,” Tony said. “I chose it. But it doesn’t make me less of an asshole.” 

“I doubt that your comrades view it as such.” 

“If one of them dies when we’re gone, I don’t know how I’m going to live with myself,” Tony said. “I should be suited up and out there doing something, instead of hanging back here and watching their lives pass by.” 

“You help them.” 

“Modifying their armor isn’t good enough,” Tony said. “I should be out there. Especially now.” 

Displeasure drew across Loki’s face. “It is too dangerous.” 

“I can take hits that they can’t,” Tony said. 

Loki recognized that it would be difficult to argue with him like this and tried it anyway. “I won’t have you perish over some rash decision in which you think you’re saving your friends.” 

“That’s how you met me,” Tony answered, voice climbing. 

Loki closed his eyes a split second as though he’d been struck. 

“I just---” Tony set his jaw. “I need to work this out on my own. I’ve been reliving the invasion the last couple of days. Just---just let me work it out on my own. This is why I didn’t tell you.” 

“You think I’m a monster.” 

“I didn’t say that,” Tony said. “Don’t be so dramatic.” He got up off the tub. “I’m the mature one in this relationship and that’s fucking scary.” He rubbed his hand against his chin as though it itched. 

Loki stared straight ahead at the bathroom wall, lost in thought. 

“I’m going to go back down to the lab,” Tony said. 

Loki response was delayed. “Tony?” He spoke just as Tony reached the door. 

“Yeah?” 

Loki turned around to stare at him. Tony didn’t look like he hated Loki. Himself, maybe. Loki wasn’t sure what was worse. “I am sorry to have put you through that.” He’d be paying for it with Tony’s nightmares for years. It never got easier. 

Tony’s lips twitched up to the side for a second, then slipped back down. He barely nodded his head before sliding his hand along the now unlocked door handle and drawing it open, showing himself out. 

Loki conjured himself a full bottle. 


	65. Subtle Things

On second thought, Tony wasn’t glad that he’d found them. But he’d been so preoccupied with the first thought that he hadn’t really thought about what he’d walked into. 

The fireplace dimly lit the room. Loki and Natasha were in armchairs, and with the long shadows cast by them and their imperial poses, the armchairs looked more like thrones. Loki was casually picking at his nails with a dagger as Natasha sipped from a glass. 

“He does always have that deer in a headlights look, doesn’t he?” Natasha said. 

“I told you,” Loki said, flicking the dagger. 

Ah yeah. Not a good idea to walk into this snake pit. Tony did not enjoy the conspiring way they were looking at him. It was far too chummy. He cleared his throat. 

“Yes, dear?” Loki asked. Tony gave him an odd look at the endearment. 

“Sorry if I’m interrupting rehearsals for whatever creepy off Broadway play this is, but I was just going to ask if you wanted to come with me to Rhodey’s.” 

Loki leaned to the side in his chair, running the blade along a cuticle. “You go ahead,” he said, his face in profile to Tony. “Natasha and I are having an eventful evening.” He pretended to be unaware of the nervous shuffle of Tony’s feet before the man replied. 

“That’s cool. You guys do your thing. I’ll be back tonight.” 

Inwardly, Loki grinned. Tony wouldn’t beg him to come along because he was trying to be delicate about the issue for once. Loki knew that Tony desperately wanted his presence. Tony wasn’t good at babysitting yet, but he was learning. And he was over the moon about Rhodey’s kid, even if he wouldn’t admit it directly. He was sending gifts over there and babysitting because he didn’t want Rhodey’s child to “have to have a nanny like I did”. A lie. Tony wanted to be there. Loki couldn’t have planned anything better himself. 

This brought his estimation of how long it would take for Tony to embrace fatherhood down a couple hundred years. 

“I will see you then,” Loki said. He would wait up for Tony, if he had to. He felt exceptionally fond of Tony on the nights he came back from Rhodey’s. Loki vanished the dagger away, hoping that he would have the pleasure of one of Tony’s uncertain phone calls. He rather enjoyed coaching Tony through things. 

Tony just nodded and left. 

“I am surprised that Rhodey doesn’t have a nanny,” Natasha said. 

“Tony enjoys helping,” Loki said. “He doesn’t want the child to have one as he did.” 

And there might have been a spell in place making it impossible for Rhodey to find and hire a nanny. That too. 

 

“We’re leaving,” Loki called into the lab. “Won’t you come along?” 

“No,” Tony answered. Loki couldn’t make out the rest of the distracted response as Tony mumbled over his project. 

“We’ll be going then.” 

Tony nodded his head. He didn’t want to go galaxy hopping through bars when he was in the middle of this. 

As it was, Tony didn’t emerge from the lab until three in the morning, and that was only because he’d been successful in finishing his project. He wandered back to bed and found it empty. Tony didn’t worry about it. He knew Loki and Natasha would be fine, wherever they were. He fell right asleep. 

And woke at four in the morning to a drunken hand pressing into his back. “Loki?” Tony grumbled. “Jarvis, lights.” 

“Not the lights,” Loki said, covering his eyes. There was a long gash in the fabric on his shoulder that Tony honed in on immediately. 

“Loki, what’s that?” Tony demanded, the words punctuated by anxiety. He grabbed Loki by the shoulders, steadying his kneeling position on the bed. “What happened?” 

“Nothing,” Loki said, trying to bat his hand away. Tony gingerly pulled the fabric back to find unbroken skin beneath. 

“What was here before?” 

“Nothing,” Loki insisted, reaching up to pull the shirt back. Then a sloppy smile crept onto his face. “Natasha and I were simply betting on who could out con the most creatures in the bar, and one of my marks was a tad bit more perceptive than I thought.” Tony’s grip on his shoulder tightened by a fraction. 

“But you’re okay,” Tony said. 

“I will be if you allow me to sleep,” Loki said in a childish tone. “Or shall I retire to my own bedroom? You are awfully loud. I liked it better when you were asleep.” 

“How’s Natasha?” 

“Fine.” Loki was smiling again. 

“She lost the bet, didn’t she,” Tony said. In reply, Loki’s grin only got bigger. “Did you—drunk teleport back here?” 

Loki shook his head. “Of course not,” he said. “I would hate to split one of us open by mistake.” Tony tried not to react to that horrifying image. “She had to procure me a drink upon our return and I—enjoyed myself thoroughly.” He pulled himself from Tony’s slackened grip and flopped down on the bed. 

Tony sat there for a few moments before calling for Jarvis to turn out the lights. Loki felt Tony’s arm circle in around him and fell asleep almost instantly. 

 

The next day, Loki began to enjoy the byproduct of his blossoming understanding with Natasha. It wasn’t a friendship per se, but it was as close to one as both parties would allow themselves to get. 

It started with waking to breakfast in bed. Loki smelled the slightly burnt eggs before he saw them, rolling over tiredly. “A little hangover cure,” Tony said cheerfully. 

“I don’t have one,” Loki said, pulling the covers back up over himself. 

“I put that sauce you like on them.” 

“Let me rest,” Loki mumbled beneath the sheets. After a few moments he heard the plate clatter as Tony set it on the nightstand. The mattress shifted, and Loki could only assume that Tony was getting off the bed. He fell back asleep. A few hours later he tried the eggs, magically correcting their temperature. They were as okay as Tony got at making them. 

Contentedly, Loki wandered out onto his floor, his robe dragging out behind him. He lounged out across the couch with a good book. When Tony appeared, his chatter went in one ear and out the other. Once the word lab was uttered, Loki just assumed the rest. Tony vanished again until the late evening. He begged Loki to come join his comrades for movie night. Loki was more interested in his book. He was still reading it when Tony reappeared and asked if he wanted to go to bed. Loki declined. He found Tony asleep hours later, after he’d finished his book. 

 

Loki thought little of Tony’s absence the following morning as well. He wandered downstairs and had an amusing breakfast with Natasha, mostly at Clint’s expense. He entertained himself by being a nuisance to Steve until the evening hours. Then he was impatient for Tony’s presence. He fully expected to find Tony in the lab. 

Loki found himself in a dark, cold room instead. “Jarvis? Why is Tony not here?” 

“How can he be when he is in the bedroom?” 

Loki huffed. He appeared on his own floor and yanked the bedroom door open. It was empty. For a moment Loki was taken aback. They preferred sleeping on his floor when they stayed at the tower. At least he did, and Tony usually followed his lead. 

When he appeared in Tony’s bedroom, he did not expect what he found. 

Tony was sitting cross legged on the floor, combing a brush through Andor’s fur. The ram was emitting an unpleasant growl. It squirmed and yipped when it spotted Loki. 

“What’s this?” 

Tony avoided a bite to the hand. “Just giving them a bath,” Tony said. Brynjar was buried inside of a towel beside Tony, watching its companion’s plight with glee. Tony began to polish Andor’s little helmet with a different towel. 

Loki’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What have you done?” 

“Nothing,” Tony said, releasing Andor. The ram ran to Loki, bleating and demanding to be comforted. Loki picked it up obligingly, magicing away the water left in its fur. He watched Tony pull a pleading Brynjar from its hiding place and proceed to gently brush its fur. 

“Nothing,” Loki repeated. 

“They stunk,” Tony said. “They needed a damn bath.” Loki wasn’t sure what to say to that. After a while he walked over to the bed and sat down with his back against the headboard, brushing his fingers through Andor’s fur and watching Tony in silence. 

He did so enjoy watching Tony care for them. 

Loki said nothing when Tony released Brynjar and the ram sought refuge under the dresser. Tony simply grabbed the towels and brush before going into the bathroom. After a while Loki heard the shower turn on. He released Andor to go hide with its friend and sat there in contemplation. 

Clouds of steam poured out of the bathroom when Tony walked out. He saw Loki watching him suspiciously from the bed, and tried not to feel disappointed by that as he put on his clothes. He went to his side of the bed as if nothing was amiss about the god’s stare burning a hole into him. Tony got in and pulled the covers over his shoulder, facing away from Loki. 

Then he felt fingers run through his hair. “Did you not dry yourself off?” 

“I towel dried it,” Tony said. He felt Loki’s magic suck away the moisture. Wet hair seemed to be a pet peeve of Loki’s, but Tony had never asked why. Loki’s fingers played with his hair. Tony wasn’t sure whether to be apprehensive or happy. 

“Might I ask what inspired you to attend to our pets?” 

Tony closed his eyes. He faked a yawn. “They needed a bath. Don’t be weird about it.” 

“Tony.” 

“What?” 

Loki pulled back the covers, sliding in alongside Tony and forcing him onto his back so that Loki could lay over him. It felt a bit like being trapped by a spider as he toyed with Tony’s hair again. There was an odd grin on his face with too many subtle emotions to tease out completely. “Was it perhaps that you spoke to Natasha?” 

“About what?” Tony asked irritably, trying to pull back from Loki’s grip. 

A slow, edgy smile pulled at Loki’s lips. “My wanting you to do so.” 

Loki knew by Tony’s expression that his reaction was genuine. It was not what Loki expected, at all. He wasn’t sure whether or not to be pleasantly surprised. “No,” Tony said. “I just did it because it needed to be done.” 

Well, Tony did remember Natasha saying that Loki looked at him differently when he played with the rams, but she hadn’t said anything directly about giving them a bath. And anyway, this had been his plan completely, not Natasha’s. He was pissed that she was getting credit. 

Loki’s expression softened a fraction. “That seems unlikely.” 

“What do you want me to say?” Tony said flatly. 

“Even so,” Loki said, continuing his line of thought. “I do not mind.” He kissed the side of Tony’s warm cheek. Ever so slowly, he worked his way to Tony’s eager mouth, trying not to laugh at how obvious Tony was. And if Tony looked like a cat that had got the cream when Loki pulled back for air, Loki couldn’t have cared less. Let Tony think he was the better manipulator. It was more fun that way.


	66. Three of Six

Tony stumbled forward, his suit sparking against the stone wall as it collided. Loki’s arm shot around to catch him as Tony corrected himself. “Running’s not exactly the suit’s strongpoint,” Tony huffed out self-consciously. 

“This tunnel will end soon,” Loki answered, his bloodied armguard returning to his side as he ran alongside Tony. 

“I hope,” Tony said. He had no idea what the hell the layout of the place was. Jarvis was trying, but he wasn't exactly equipped to be a GPS on an alien planet in a foreign realm. 

Loki rounded the corner slightly ahead of him. “It’s close,” he said. “It’s distinct. I can sense it.” 

Jarvis couldn’t, but Tony wasn’t skeptical. Loki took out a guard several paces in front of them before Tony even realized that she was guarding a door. Loki kicked it in. “Just one?” Tony asked, trying not to look as he stepped over the body. Maybe she was incapacitated, maybe not. He couldn’t exactly account for his actions either. 

But maybe it hadn’t been so grim. “I doubt they expected anyone to make it this far,” Loki said, his voice becoming distant. 

Tony forgot what he was going to say when he set eyes on the cube. Its blue light glowed brilliantly, but did not illuminate the pitch black room. He could barely make out Loki’s features as he strode forward. They were both quiet for a couple minutes, reminded of the history the cube held for them. Loki’s frustrated sigh broke the silence. “What?” Tony asked. 

Loki’s lips parted with a soft, inward hiss of breath. “We have endeavored so swiftly to recapture this that I have not had time to consider where it should be relocated to.” Tony stepped in beside him. “I suppose Asgard’s vault will have to do,” he said bitterly. 

“Asgard?” Tony said. “No way. They’re the ones that lost it in the first place.” Now that it was in front of them, every muscle in Tony’s body locked with tension. “Which we still don’t know how the hell they managed to do.” 

“A mystery for another time,” Loki said. For now, they just needed to get it somewhere safe. 

Tony heard something in the hallway and spun back around towards the door. 

“Loki,” Tony choked out. “We’ve got company.” He shot a blast down the hall as Loki moved quickly behind him, wrapping the cube in a black cloth. Tony shielded the door, feverishly scanning the hall. He didn’t feel Loki’s hand slide into his free one, and nearly collapsed when he realized that they were standing in the bedroom of their castle home. Tony’s faceplate flew off. He was drenched in sweat. 

Loki paced over to the desk and set the cube down. The cloth fell from around the cube. He stilled in thought, running his thumb along his lip repetitively. There was a cut along the side of his face that was still bleeding. 

The suit’s armor fell from Tony as he walked into the bathroom. 

Loki startled when Tony pressed a washcloth to his face, gently removing the blood. He stared at Tony, wide eyed. 

Tony was shaking, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “Are you well?” Loki asked him. 

A drop of water ran down Loki’s chin and fell onto his chest. 

Loki reached for Tony’s jaw and turned Tony’s head towards him. “Tony,” he said. His brown eyes reluctantly pulled away from the cut. “Are you well?” 

“Fine,” Tony said, the washcloth at Loki’s cheek stinging as Tony went to wipe the rest away. Loki caught the back of his hand and held it there. His expression did not change. 

“I am well,” he told Tony firmly. Tony smiled, but it was more that his lips flinched than anything. “We will find a place to keep the Tesseract.” This time, a shiver definitely shook Tony’s entire body. 

“I know,” Tony said lightly. 

“Then what ails you?” Loki asked. Tony stared at his cheek. Another tremble shook him. “Tell me.” 

Loki wasn’t prepared to see Tony’s eyes well up. His body leaned back for a moment, but he stopped when Loki’s hand moved to the small of his back. Loki cocked his head, leaning in, as if he could tell just by staring. 

“I—” Tony took a step backwards, but it brought him nowhere. Loki’s fingers stroked his back, coaxing him. A few tears slipped down Tony’s face. When his voice came, it was throaty and thick. “I could’ve lost you today.” 

“It wasn’t that dire,” Loki said lightly, drawing Tony into him. He pressed Tony’s overheated, shaking body to his, humbled by Tony’s sudden insecurity and affection. “Truly.” 

Tony’s fright was slightly baffling. Tony was no stranger to combat, and had certainly seen far worse. “All is well now,” Loki assured him, pressing a kiss to Tony’s head. It had been a simple raid with a simple objective. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony choked out. Loki stilled. He pulled back to read Tony’s face, but Tony wouldn’t allow it. “I—I’ve been so stressed about everyone dying and Rhodey and his kid and Shield and trying not to blow our cover and keeping everyone happy and getting it right and then I realized when we were fighting that I’ve been so fucking hard on you lately, and if I lost you the rest of it wouldn’t even matter anymore, I mean it would, but I can’t lose you, Loki. I’m—I’m sorry.” Tony choked on a sob. “I’ve been an ass.” He shook violently in Loki’s arms. 

Loki’s reply came slowly, spoken in a calm and reasonable voice. “I have been aware of your struggles. I have not held them against you in the way you may think.” He expected Tony’s transition into immortality to be difficult. He had never expected it to be anything less. 

“I know,” Tony said, starting on a different train of thought. “That you really want a kid. I know you do,” Tony said. “And I meant what I said before about it, but since I’ve started watching Rhodey’s kid—I get it now. Why you want that. I do,” Tony said. He bit his cheek. Loki was holding up a lot of his weight for him. “But I can’t—” He turned his head to the side, speaking in the direction of their bed and the wall. “I can watch my friends die, but if we had a kid they’d remember everyone. I can’t put them through that too.” 

Loki stared down at Tony in shock. 

He had thought of Tony wishing for his friends to see their child, and regretting if they did not, but he had not given this thought nearly as much consideration. Perhaps it was because the passing of Tony’s mortal friends would not impact him in the way it would Tony. 

Tony looked into his eyes imploringly. “I get it, Loki,” he said. “And I want to make you happy. But right now’s just not an option. I can’t do it.” 

“No,” Loki half stuttered. “I understand.” He pulled Tony in tight, in a way that would have crushed him a few years back. Tony trembled, but his heart rate was returning to normal. “We have time,” Loki whispered eventually, resting his head against Tony’s. “There is no need to rush.” 

Any other day Tony would’ve pointed out how fucking insane it all was. Today he just recognized it as his life. “Thanks,” he mumbled. 

Eventually Loki let go. Tony took a step back, rubbing his arm. A nasty bruise was beginning to be known along his cheek. “What’re we going to do with it?” He asked, nodding back towards the desk. “We can’t keep it here.” 

“It may attract too much attention here,” Loki agreed slowly. 

“Forget outside attention,” Tony said. “Think of what our pets would do with something like that inside the house.” Loki grinned, more to acknowledge Tony’s attempt at a lighter tone than anything else. “We’d probably die.” 

“Guarding it somewhere will be a problem,” Loki said. 

Tony scratched at his jaw, avoiding Loki’s gaze again. “If a bunch of thieves and junk traders can keep it locked up in their clubhouse, we can find a place for it,” he said. “What about that cave we went to for the egg thing?” 

Loki shook his head. “I am not the only one that uses that location for storage. It is well protected with atrocious consequences for thievery, but the Tesseract may be too tempting for some, even so. It will need to be—” He frowned. He wouldn’t admit that he was at a loss, but he was. 

“Maybe there’s someone we can pay to protect it?” 

“None can be trusted. If someone wants it, they will find it,” Loki said. He did not want to lose it, not by any means. It was bizarre luck that they’d come across it in the first place. He did not want it to fall into another’s hands. 

“It did sit on the bottom of the ocean for god knows how long,” Tony pointed out. “Maybe we should just toss it back in there.” 

Loki fought back a laugh. It was such an absurd thought—the Tesseract, sitting on Midgard like a mere piece of coral. “I do not think that is an option,” he said, sounding mirthful. 

“Maybe I’ll just make a box with a whole bunch of locks on it,” Tony said. He pulled at his under armor, desperate to get the sweaty thing off. Suddenly he caught Loki grinning at him in a way that made his toes curl. “What?” 

“You,” Loki said. His smile had quickly turned terrifying. “We will build a way to house and disguise it in your lab. With my magic and your skills, we should be able to effectively conceal it.” 

“Loki,” Tony said cautiously. “I don’t know if that’s the sort of thing that either of us need to keep around here.” 

“You wanted a means to access other worlds on your own, did you not?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. Leave it to Loki to spin that against him. “In case something happened to one of us,” Tony said. 

“Who would you trust more to keep watch over it?” Loki asked. 

Tony considered, then huffed. He had nothing. It did need to be protected. He wasn't sure they were right for the job, but he didn’t think it’d be safe on Earth either. “We can work safe guards into it if that makes you comfortable,” Loki said. 

Tony rubbed his face. “Yeah,” he decided finally. His mind was already presenting him with wonderful, tempting ways to keep it safe, and he did like the challenge. Still, he was unsure. 

“It will be fine,” Loki said. Tony tugged at his under armor. “But it can wait. I do not think anyone will come looking for it in the next hour.” 

“What are we doing in the next hour?” Tony asked petulantly, not really expecting an answer. 

“You,” Loki said, petting a hand over Tony’s sweat drenched hair, “are taking a bath. You smell absolutely abhorrent.” 

Tony’s mouth flew open with an indignant scowl. “As if you’re any better? You’ve got blood—” _Matted in your hair_ , Tony was going to say, but realizing it made his stomach drop. “You can’t just poof over it,” Tony tried instead. Loki noticed the abrupt shift, but said nothing. “All that shit’s still on you under the illusion, I’ll know if I touch it, and don’t think that I can’t smell what’d be under it either.” 

Loki gave his shoulder a shove in the direction of the bathroom. “Let’s fix that then, shall we?” 

Tony turned around. He tugged off the under armor as he walked. It slowly peeled from the muscled skin beneath, which was enjoyable up until the moment that it revealed a sprawling fresh bruise across his back. 

Tony flinched when he felt cold fingers at his back. “Can’t wait, huh—uuhhm.” Tony clenched his teeth together. Loki’s magic licked up through the wound, correcting a misplaced rib. Tony took a deep breath. “It would’ve fixed itself in a few minutes.” 

“You still heal at a slower rate than I,” Loki said ruefully. 

“Yeah, well. I’m older. Technically.” Tony said. “Adding extra mojo to my body at this age probably means I won’t heal like a thirty year old.” 

“No,” Loki said as Tony dropped his pants and stepped over the side of the tub. “Idunn assured me that there would be no perceptible difference in age.” 

Tony glanced over at Loki. The god had never spoken to him of talking to Idunn about them. “Like how we look, or…” 

“I will not spend a thousand years past you, nor will you be left to a similar fate.” Loki said, turning on tap water. 

“Oh,” Tony said. He hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about that. It sort of hurt that Loki had. 

Most of his nightmares involved Loki abandoning him for the remainder of their time, usually out of boredom. 

It was nice to hear that Loki had no such intention, even if it was just his nightmares that had put that idea there. Tony watched the warm water pool around him, trying not to notice how tired Loki looked. “Aren’t you getting in?” He asked after a while. 

“When I’m done with you.” 

“What does that mean—” Water splashed against his face as Loki reached over the tub and shut it off. He perched on the narrow rim of the tub as if that was actually comfortable. A small pitcher appeared in his hands. 

Tony watched water rush in as the brim was presented to the surface of the tub water. Loki slightly tipped Tony’s head back before pressing the side of his hand to Tony’s forehead. It shielded Tony’s eyes and face from the water Loki then poured over his hair. 

Tony wanted to say something snarky. He dearly wanted to poke fun at them, or goad Loki into joining him in the tub. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

Instead he squeezed his eyes shut as he felt shampoo in his hair, and then Loki’s long fingers working it into a lather. Loki’s nails ran back and forth along Tony’s scalp, taking their time. Hot water and suds poured down his neck, and then the process started again. 

When Loki’s hands began to knead into his aching muscles, Tony couldn’t withstand the quiet intensity of it any longer. “The next time you want to go out for a drink and Manhattan isn’t good enough, we’re going somewhere like Tahiti. Nothing interstellar, alright? That got way out of hand.” Loki made a soft hushing sound. “Loki?” 

Loki combed his fingers into Tony’s hair, then leaned in close over the tub. He held Tony’s gaze with such a look that Tony was forced to quell. Loki hummed in response, returning to his work along Tony’s chest. 

For a while there was nothing but the sound of soap lathering against his skin and water dripping back into the tub. 

Then Loki slipped in behind Tony, his clothes vanishing in the same instant. He brought his arms around Tony and held him to his chest, closing his eyes. Tony opened his mouth to say something funny, but suddenly he felt like crying again. His throat clenched up. Loki’s fingers set against his stomach, not moving. 

Tony glanced down. The water had mixed with soap, grime, and blood, turning a gray off color. “Lo,” he said quietly. “Maybe a shower—”

“Shhh.” 

Loki must’ve second guessed himself, because suddenly they were in the shower. Tony fumbled for the water to turn on. Loki went back to washing him as if there’d been no interruption. When Tony tried to return the favor, he found his wrist in Loki’s hand. 

Loki proceeded to wash himself quickly and efficiently, leaving Tony there to watch. 

Ordinarily, Tony would’ve enjoyed the show, but now he leaned against the shower wall. He was exhausted to his core. Loki shut off the water. He stepped out, leaving Tony to follow him. The tub was drained and refilled. This time, the contents of a bottle with a milky, sweet aroma was added. Loki waited for Tony to step in. 

Then he sank down beside him, pulling Tony back into his arms. 

“Lo—”

“Hush.” 

Tony felt Loki’s nose press against his tense shoulder. “Are we okay?” 

Loki hummed affirmatively in response, leaning back against the tub and pulling Tony down with him. He could practically hear the chatter in Tony’s brain. Tony’s muscles were still clenched tight, despite the heat of the bath. Loki summoned glasses of wine and food to the side. 

After a moment, Tony reached over for one. 

In a few minutes, he was eating and calm, his body weight finally relaxed and resting against Loki. 

Loki closed his eyes and held Tony a fraction tighter. He had not felt so relieved for months. A deep affection rushed in to fill the void left by stress. 

Tony said something about the wine and set his head back against Loki's chest. The god felt his lips move into a smile.


	67. A Bond

Loki and Tony had thought that it would take them a few days to make a device that would both protect and hide the Tesseract. It took an entire month. 

Three days in, Loki popped back over to the tower to retrieve the rams. Loki and Tony hadn’t meant to be gone for more than a few hours when they’d originally left. As Loki appeared in the room, he nearly collided with a sleeping Rogers. 

Steve startled as he woke, quickly took in Loki, then glanced to the side of him. “Where’s Tony?” 

“He is in our home,” Loki said, slightly annoyed by the intrusion and unsettled by Steve’s interest. 

“Is he okay?” Steve asked, getting up. 

Loki’s arms were already extended into the rams’ glass enclosure. He paused, leaning back. “He is fine,” Loki said, studying Steve. 

“Yeah?” Steve asked. He allowed a split second for Loki to say otherwise. “Then tell the asshole to let us know before he disappears. We thought—” Steve glared, focusing the entirety of his ire onto Loki. “You both just can’t disappear like that. We wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but you left these guys behind, so what were we supposed to think?” 

It was the first time in his life that Loki had ever felt genuinely chastised by the blonde. Usually he just made fun of Tony for feeling that way. “We ran across a situation,” Loki explained himself. “We are still working to resolve it.” He spoke tensely, holding Steve’s gaze. 

“At home?” Steve asked, smiling sarcastically. 

“Our home has a lab, Rogers, and surely you can piece together why Tony might find such a facility useful?” Loki turned back towards the enclosure. He picked up the sleeping rams, ignoring their waking protests. “I assure you we are well. Tony and I will return when we have completed our task.” 

“Okay,” Steve said, in a way that made it clear he was far from finished. Loki didn’t stay to hear out his complaint.

The rams were screaming and squealing when Loki appeared in the lab. He set their indignant, squirming bodies into their enclosure. “They’re excited,” Tony said from the desk, not looking up from his work. 

“Rogers was most displeased with our unannounced departure,” Loki said bitterly. 

Tony’s surprise quickly morphed into tired agitation. “I can’t do everything at once,” he said. “Did you tell him we found the Tesseract? We’ve been a little distracted.” 

“I do not think it wise to tell them that it is in our possession,” Loki said. 

Tony picked at the device for a moment in silence. He glanced up. “Are we going to tell anyone?” Tony challenged him. Loki’s look said it all. “Fine,” Tony said. “You’d better conceal the hell out of it then.” 

“I will,” Loki said darkly. 

Tony grabbed for a tool on his desk. “Great,” Tony said. “Now his star spangled briefs are going to be in a knot when we get back.” 

Loki sat down in the chair beside him. “Are you not moved by the concern of your comrade?” Loki asked, tone indecipherable. 

“I am,” Tony said with exasperation. “He’s right, we did just sort of disappear, but this is the freaking Tesseract. I sort of forgot about everything else.” 

“He will forgive you,” Loki said quickly, pulling a heavy book from the desk. 

“I guess,” Tony said. They went back to work. 

One month felt like three after all of the time they put in. They finished with a simple, ordinary looking box that could’ve easily been mistaken for scrap in Tony’s lab. It could still function as a portal, but only if Tony or Loki’s biometrics allowed access to the device. Petty bickering aside, they were both satisfied with it. 

Loki intended to return them to Tony’s tower the next day, but that morning he woke up to Tony latched onto him and complaining about needing a vacation. “Somewhere new,” Tony pleaded, nipping at Loki’s ear. 

“I thought you wished to spend time with your friends,” Loki said pointedly, leaning heavily on implication. 

“They’ll still be there in a week,” Tony said. He sucked sweetly at Loki’s neck. “Let’s go somewhere. We earned it.” 

Loki grinned slyly. He cupped his hand behind Tony’s head, forcing the man to look at him. His grin turned ever the more cunning. “You can earn it,” he said. He brushed his pointer finger over Tony’s lips. “Go on. Convince me I should give in to your wish.” 

“You know that’s not really a, no, yeah, totally going to earn it,” Tony decided. It was so much faster to play along. He licked and nipped his way down Loki’s torso, teasing and avoiding Loki’s hips until fingers curled warningly into his hair. “Hey, how about if I can make you come in the next two minutes you let me pick where we go?” 

“Do you have somewhere in mind?” Loki asked skeptically. 

“How about that planet where you and Thor got kicked out of the burlesque show?” Tony asked with a happy, cocky grin. His hair was disheveled to one side. 

Loki scowled, cursing himself for telling Tony about that. 

“And if I don’t come in the next two minutes?” Loki asked, slowly raking his nails through Tony’s hair. 

Tony grinned before being a smart ass. “You’re still getting a blow job.” 

Loki laughed. “You’re already down to a minute and fifty seconds.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. Then he won, despite Loki’s best effort. Loki seemed furious with himself, and Tony couldn’t help laughing. He knew Loki’s body far too well and had far more tricks than Loki gave him credit for. “Looks like we’re going there,” Tony announced happily. Loki groaned miserably. 

 

When they arrived on the planet, the theater that had stood there nearly a thousand years ago was gone. Now a sad, weedy field stood in its place. It wasn’t exactly surprising, but Tony was still disappointed. “This is bleak,” he said. 

Loki sighed. Inwardly, he was relieved. “There is no need to stay and admire its banality then,” Loki said. “Shall we go home?” 

“No way,” Tony said. “I still get to pick somewhere.” Loki flexed his jaw and said nothing. “There are a billion places out there. One of them has to be similar.” 

“I haven’t exactly been curating a list,” Loki said. 

“No,” Tony answered. “But you do hang out with some shady characters. You know some. Don’t pretend.” Loki crossed his arms, his expression turning hard. “Loki.” 

“None which I could take _you_ to.” 

“What?” Tony’s mouth dropped open. “What do you think I’ll do? Sure I’m gorgeous, but I’m not going to get it on with the first hot alien that throws themselves at me.” 

“You’re so humble,” Loki said condescendingly, shaking his head. He didn’t seem as amused as Tony thought he should have been. 

“Really,” Tony said. “Tell me why not.” 

Loki took a long, hard breath. He pinched his lips together, then gave Tony a cold, hard stare. “The ones I am familiar with are all frequented by Asgardians, or beings that frequently engage with them.” 

“Okay?”

“I do not know any remote enough to take you to.” 

“Why is this about me?” Tony asked. Loki turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact. “You know I wouldn’t actually do anything, right?” 

“Yes,” Loki said with tired exasperation. Of course he knew that Tony wouldn’t. He’d bury him alive if he did. 

“Then what’s the problem?” 

“I cannot guarantee what they will do to you.” 

Tony barked out a laugh. “Nothing!” He exclaimed. “With you looming over me, do you really think they’re going to want to try and put a move on—”

“That is not what I am referring to,” Loki said sharply. He paced in a few circular steps around Tony, watching the clearing. “Has it not occurred to you that I actively avoid Asgard in our travels?” 

“I thought the parental disapproval was a pretty obvious reason,” Tony said. 

Loki shook his head. “That is not the only reason.” 

A breeze whipped through the grasses, lashing at their ankles. 

“I do not think it inconceivable that you would—be a target, for unscrupulous persons.” 

Tony was silent for a minute, contemplating that. “Are you sure that’s not paranoia?” Tony asked as gently as he could. 

Loki’s expression was so gravely serious when he answered that it bogged Tony down with sympathy. “Despite my absent role, I still hold privileges there. You could easily become a hostage to anyone wishing to hold you over me for whatever purpose. And while our union may be tolerated, it is not embraced. It is a direct challenge to more things than I care to elaborate on, and it has crossed my mind more than once that it may appeal to Asgard to eliminate you. I am not willing to subject you to either scenario, obviously.” 

“Loki,” Tony said. “Fuck, that’s—” He held his fist to his mouth, grimacing. “Heavy.” 

“You see why I am unwilling,” Loki said. He took another step. “When we have our family, my children cannot be denied. I believe it will guarantee you and I greater freedoms and stability than we have now. You will belong to my family line, undeniably. I understand that you are not ready yet,” he reassured Tony. “I am willing to wait until you are. But believe me, Tony Stark, I mean to have a family of my own making, with you in it.” 

Tony swallowed. Hard. The sudden surge of possessiveness agreed with him in unflattering ways, but the freshly painted target on his back made him lightheaded. “I’m going to ignore the whole you not telling me that part about Asgard,” Tony said. “And just say okay and let’s go find something else to do.” 

Loki breathed in and stood a little taller. “I may know something agreeable, if not entirely dissimilar to the first place.” 

“Then let’s go,” Tony said, holding out his hand. 

 

They appeared in what Tony assumed to be a theater. The air was heavy and dim with sweet smelling smoke. There were beings everywhere, some humanoid, most not. Loki led him by the hand through the throng, past loud music and chattering voices. 

They stopped in front of a velvety purple curtain with gold tassels. There was a tall, slender being with purple skin and narrow eyes standing beside it. “Is ♮➳♩in?” Loki asked in a charming air that reminded Tony of their earlier days together. Tony rubbed his ear, wondering if there had been an error in the AllSpeak. 

“Your name?” The being asked. 

Loki said another name that Tony couldn’t make sense of, squeezing Tony’s hand tighter when the being’s eyes lingered on Tony. 

Suddenly the curtain opened and an identical being stepped out. “It has been so long!” They exclaimed to Loki. 

“It is a pleasure to see you again.” Loki bowed his head curtly. “I had hoped to have the privilege of sharing your show with my mate.” 

Tony smiled awkwardly as he was introduced. The being simply nodded its head and fell silent. And then no one was talking. Tony tried to catch Loki’s eye, but he was doing his best to charm the being in front of them. “Lo—uh, hey, what’s—”

“I will explain in a moment,” Loki whispered quickly. The beings eventually nodded to one another and the second disappeared after saying goodbye to Loki. This time, the first being pulled the curtain aside for them to come through. 

Inside was a small theater with a circular stage in the middle. Most of the seats were already occupied. They took a place in the back. 

“Okay, whatever your name is, what was that about?” Tony asked. 

“♮➳♩runs this theater—”

“Who?” 

“♮➳♩,” Loki repeated. 

“Loki, something’s wrong. What you said just made no sense.” 

Loki patted Tony’s knee, then held it for a second. “Some words and names do not translate well.” Tony hummed, crossing his arms irritably. “You learned Asgardian, did you not? Similarly, it is possible to learn other languages, and use them in ways that are impossible with only the AllSpeak.” 

“So you learned whatever that was?” Tony asked, gesturing with his hand in a spiral. 

“In a way,” Loki said. 

Tony didn’t feel like chasing after wherever story that would lead to with Loki. Instead he asked, “And the whole being silent thing?” 

“Usually the being I spoke to permits access to this theater. Apparently now they have a mate that has taken on that role.”

“And,” Tony said, waving his hand for Loki to keep going. 

Loki spread out in the chair, in no rush to answer everything. “They were not sure what to make of you, or I. It was resolved though, as you can tell by our being in here.” He weaved his fingers together in his lap. “It is rare for beings like us to be permitted inside. I believe we may be the only ones from Asgard and Midgard to have been allowed such.” 

“That doesn’t explain the silence thing,” Tony said. Someone crossed in front of them to take a vacant seat several spots down. Tony pulled in his legs to avoid the tentacle-like appendages. 

“If you would allow me to teach you to see magic—” Loki ignored Tony’s skeptical scoffing noise, not wanting to give Tony another opportunity to talk about how he could engineer some technological nonsense to do such a thing, “You would have noticed that they share a bond.” 

“A bond,” Tony said. Loki nodded. “A magical bond,” Tony repeated, this time with a scathing tone. Finally, Loki realized that bond hadn’t meant much to Tony. 

“They can hear their mates thoughts, sense their feelings…it is rarely a perfect connection, but some choose to bind themselves in such a way.” 

The lights of the theater were starting to dim. “Why don’t we have a bond?” Tony asked, like it was some toy they were lacking. 

“Why would I want you inside my head all day?” Loki asked. “It would be an incessant stream of suit, suit, sex, science, suit.” 

“Pffft. Yours would be magic, bitch at Tony about something, rams, rams, Thor, magic, plot, plot, damnit Thor—”

“Shhh,” Loki hushed him, smirking. “It’s about to start.” 

“No it’s not,” Tony insisted. He whispered instead, though. “And for the record, yours would also be a lot of wow, Tony is hot, I need some of that right now—”

Loki interrupted with a whispered hiss. “As if yours would not be a ceaseless wondering of when you could sneak a glimpse of my ass—” 

“I don’t have to sneak anything,” Tony whispered. “I can look at your ass all the time—”

“Though perhaps if we shared thoughts I might finally be able to fathom why you cannot possibly be bothered to groom our dear pets when I ask—” He was interrupted by a flute like sound and a light appearing in the center of the stage. Loki reluctantly decided to let their conversation go. Tony smiled at him before leaning back in his seat, turning his attention onto the stage. 

It was one of the most beautiful displays that Tony had ever seen. A tunnel of white petals spun at the center of the stage, vanishing as a slender, veiled figure appeared. They proceeded to mime a series of events, with new actors coming onto the stage from above or below. It transformed into a drama with stunning morphing sets through the seasons. 

Tony wasn’t really sure what the story was about. A history of something. All he knew was that it was absolutely mesmerizing. 

When the play ended he felt like he was on a high. Loki grabbed his hand as they moved to leave the theater. “I shall have to say my goodbye and thank ♮➳♩once again.” 

“Alright,” Tony said. 

Loki grinned. Tony had such a sweet, simple smile on his face. Loki hadn’t seen that in ages. He made sure to hold tightly to Tony’s hand, afraid of losing him in one of the many other theaters here. 

He had always enjoyed coming here, but no show was quite so magical as the first experience. He was pleased to glance back and see that expression had yet to leave Tony’s face by the time they’d found the theater owner. Tony said nothing as Loki said his thanks and praise to the being that had let them in. “We should be going,” Loki said as they went back out into the smoky hall. 

“Don’t you want to stay longer?” Tony asked. “We just got here.” 

Loki grinned lasciviously. He wanted Tony while that look was still on the man’s face. “There are things I would prefer to do with you.” 

“See?” Tony said. “With that little bond thing your thoughts totally would be I want a piece of that right now. All the time.” 

Loki tried not to smile at that. “Please,” he said. “That we can find our ways into each other’s dreams at night is bad enough.”


	68. Dinner & Dessert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some small, sweet fluff :)  
>   
> 

“Loki!” The god sat up at his name, uncertain of the tone of Tony’s voice. His book slid into his lap as he looked over the back of the couch. “Loki!” 

Tony hurried in, a gift bag smacking against his leg as he walked, its silky ropes clenched in one hand. He was bright eyed as he leaned over the back of the couch, dangling the bag out for Loki. “Look what I found!” Loki pointedly looked at the bag, making no effort to hide his amusement at Tony’s child-like enthusiasm. 

“A bag,” Loki said. “How truly astounding, the advances your realm claims everyday.” 

“No,” Tony said, rolling his eyes. “It’s for you.” 

Loki’s expression changed by a fraction, flitting from excitement to confusion to suspicion in an instant. “Please do not tell me I forgot a significant milestone date of some sort.” 

“No, nothing like that. I just saw this when I was shopping with Bruce and I thought you’d like it—can you just open it already?” Tony shook the bag, encouraging Loki to take it. 

It was rather heavy. Loki pushed back the tissue paper as Tony gripped the back of the couch, almost standing on his toes. “What is it?” Loki asked, flipping the rather tablet-like device over. 

“Jarv, night sky simulator.” The lights on Loki’s floor went out. He felt Tony’s hand brush his as he took the device, turning something on. Stars appeared in the room, aligning themselves in an imitation of the natural sky of Earth. Slowly, a red light emitted from the device, connecting lines between the stars directly above Loki. “It draws the constellation lines for you,” Tony said. Loki felt a fondness for Tony creep into his chest. “I know you hang up on the roof sometimes at night, and I know New York’s shit with light pollution, but I figured you’d like it. Oh, and you can draw and teach it your own constellations too, so we could use that the next time we travel.” 

Tony’s hand reached for his, closing around it before directing Loki’s hand to the red light. He connected the dots with their fingers, drawing an abstract shape. “It’s wonderful,” Loki softly praised him. 

“There’s something else too,” Tony said brightly. “Lights,” he said, ending the show too early for Loki’s taste. “Other side of the bag,” Tony said impatiently. 

Loki had to dig in, but then he pulled out an Ironman figure with holes in it. “Is this a—”

“Tea strainer, yeah,” Tony said. A smile lit Loki’s face. “Since you’ve been bitching about the stuff in the kitchen, I figured you’d like that.” 

“It had nothing to do with the fact that it looks like you?” 

“It looks like me? I had no idea.” 

A small smirk passed between them. Loki gently set the gifts back into their bag. “So,” Tony said. “Wanna go grab dinner?” 

Loki set his hand against the side of Tony’s face, brushing his thumb over Tony’s beard before kissing his cheek. “Thank you.” 

“Y’know, I can manage an okay gift sometimes,” Tony said. “This is definitely better than the time I brought you back poisonous gems.” 

Ah, the joys of bringing his Midgardian across the realms. 

Loki laughed lightly. “Perhaps we could bring dinner back here?” Loki asked. Tony hummed uncertainly. 

In truth, Loki had grown bored of shrouding them in a disguise every time that they went out. He minded less when doing it for Tony’s independent journeys outside the tower, but he preferred them to be themselves. “We could use the star tracer you’ve given me?” Loki suggested. 

That sold Tony on the idea. 

“I’m thinking that Vietnamese place we had two weeks ago. The one with the ca kho to you like?” Loki nodded. “Great. Jarv, you know what to do.” Tony came around the couch, claiming the open spot in front of Loki. “Bruce ended up getting Clint a sweater for his birthday. I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s too practical.” Loki set the gift bag on the floor. “I guess we can’t all give Clint arrows with reverse engineered alien tech though, can we?” 

“We cannot,” Loki agreed, reaching forward and grabbing Tony. He was pulled into Loki’s lap without any fuss, still chatting. 

“It worked out though,” Tony said. Loki wrapped his arms around Tony’s chest, leaning back against the couch arm with a sense of contentment. “I talked Bruce into buying some new sweaters for himself, and they’re good ones too, you know? He never spends on himself. I got him to buy another couple pairs of pants too. It was a big day for him.” 

Loki closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of Tony relaxing against him. “I am certain Bruce was appreciative,” Loki said. He had resigned himself to the realization that Tony needed plenty of people around him. A few friends, at least. In truth, the tower and Tony’s limited social network were too small for him now, and Loki was certain that Tony would be happier with a larger circle. 

But that couldn’t be Asgard, and Loki had no realm where he could simply introduce Tony into a large social setting. They’d be starting from scratch. 

It worried Loki, in a way. Here at least, Tony had his friends and a world that had adored him. Tony was happier now that he was at the tower more often, relaxed in ways that were hard to describe. Yet, Loki knew these years would be over in little time at all, and sooner rather than later he’d have to decide where they’d be starting their new lives. 

Loki was eager for that start, but dreaded how rough Tony’s transition would be all the same. He knew the man would not take his friends’ passings well.

“Yeah, I think so,” Tony agreed. “We spent probably five hours walking around the mall.” 

Distantly, Loki wondered if Banner would be worth keeping around for Tony, in the same manner that one contemplates getting one more pet to keep the other company. 

“You wanna play with the stars?” Tony asked in a voice that clearly meant he wanted to play with them. Loki suppressed a laugh. 

“Go ahead,” he said. Tony leaned down and fished it out of the bag. As the lights dimmed, Tony eagerly began tracing through them, telling Loki stories about the constellations. For a moment, Loki was reminded of Jane. Loki held Tony close, keeping him boxed in on the couch. He said nothing, vaguely following the storyline as he focused intently on the happiness this small act of possessiveness granted him. “You draw something, Loki.” 

Loki twisted his finger out in a dull swoop, amused at how belated the device was at catching up to him. He sent off a spark of his own magic just to show off. “No,” Tony whined. “You have to let it do it.” 

Loki let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Must I?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Fine.” He drew a bird-like creature, much to Tony’s delight. Tony rushed to add another, and Loki followed, but this time he let the drawing render itself in full before dousing it in magic and creating an elaborate, glorious version beside Tony’s crude one. 

“Hey!” 

Loki began to laugh. “That’s not fair!” Tony tried to twist around, but Loki held him pinned in place. Tony’s body shook with Loki’s laughter. “Magic,” Tony mumbled petulantly. 

“I’m sorry,” Loki lied. “Would you like to try again?” 

Tony promptly began to draw, and Loki knew what it was even before Tony was halfway finished. “How mature, Stark.” 

“Thanks,” Tony said. “I think I’m gonna name it after you, ‘cuz you’re a—”

“—wonderfully endowed in a way you envy?” Loki interrupted him. 

He could feel Tony struggle indignantly, and started laughing even before Tony demanded to be let go of. 

“I hate to disturb this revolutionary meeting of minds,” Jarvis drawled, cutting off the star simulation. “But your food has arrived.” 

“I’ll get it,” Loki said, snapping his fingers. Their carryout appeared on the coffee table, already laid out on plates. 

“You’re going to give the delivery guy a heart attack,” Tony said. “The pizza place already put a ban on delivering to us.” 

“I was hungry,” Loki said, indifferent to some delivery person’s woe. At least he was tipping them, now. Tony insisted on _paying_ for food. 

Tony crawled off of his lap just as they heard a small scuffle beneath them. “Really?” Tony asked, suddenly hesitant to put his feet on the floor. Brynjar mewled up at him, determined to be fed. Andor was already attempting to scale the coffee table. Lunging forward, Tony snagged his plate and some silverware while managing to avoid contact with the rams or the floor. He scooted back into his corner of the couch and began eating, watching them. 

Loki didn’t buy into Tony’s act for a second. He scooped the rams from the floor, setting them in the center of the couch, then began tearing off pieces of cooked chicken and plopping it in their gaping mouths. 

“Don’t give them my stuff,” Tony said. “I want the dumplings.” 

“I’m sure something will be left for you,” Loki said with boredom, dropping another bite of chicken for Andor. Brynjar had already tired of the treat and gone to sit beside Tony. The pair stared at him, Brynjar’s ironman faceplate catching the light. “You neglected to consider dessert.” 

“I knew you were gonna say that,” Tony said. He shoved one of his coveted dumplings into his mouth. “I can be dessert.” 

“And I knew you were going to say that,” Loki answered, relaxing against the couch with his own food. Andor went to sit beside his companion, and Loki stretched his legs out onto Tony’s half of the couch. As they ate, a comfortable silence fell around them. 

Loki felt perfectly content as he sat there, working his way through his food and enjoying how his pets and once mortal were at peace together. Tony pretended to drop something just to let Brynjar have it. 

Loki was reaching for his drink when he heard his name. “Loki,” Tony said. There was a quiet urgency to it. 

Loki glanced over. “I love you,” Tony said. He held Loki’s gaze for a moment before staring back down at his food, picking at it. 

Loki felt the start of a grin on his face. “I know,” he said. 

Tony brightened at that, though he said nothing. “Jarvis,” Loki said. “Chocolate mousse and a box of donuts, the same as last time.” 

“Right away, Sir.”


	69. Four of Six

Tony was sitting at the kitchen table with Loki when Steve walked in. He had his arm over the back of the chair and appeared casual at first glance, but Steve could tell that Tony was trying to sell Loki something. Whatever it was, Loki wasn’t buying it. 

Steve felt Bruce’s eyes on him. They’d talked about it. This was the only way. 

He’d just gotten the short straw.

Steve cleared his throat. They had to both know he was standing there. “What can I do for you, Rogers?” Tony asked, flashing him a bright smile while his eyes broadcast annoyance. 

“I, uh, we,” Steve said, trying to slip into captain mode, “the team, need your help.” 

“Okay,” Tony said, either ignoring or missing completely the seriousness that Steve asked the question with. 

“We wouldn’t ask if there were any other way. You’re in a precarious situation as it is. We don’t want to put you at risk, but time is an important factor.” Steve took a deep breath, steadying himself, before directing the question at Tony. “We need someone that can retrieve an artifact and get in and out without being seen. The location it’s stored in is inaccessible without—” Steve glanced uncomfortably at Loki. “Magic.” 

Tony looked at Loki, who simply gave him a slight, unimpressed shrug. “Yeah. Sure. Why not,” Tony answered for him. 

“It’s very dangerous—”

“It’s a security vault on lockdown that you can’t easily get inside of but desperately want to, and I’m guessing, Shield does too?” Tony asked. Steve started to scowl. “Relax, Rogers. Loki can get whatever it is. Now can you tell us where, because we’re kind of in the middle of something—”

“It’s Loki’s scepter,” Steve interrupted, as if that would make Tony take it seriously. 

“Well, well.” Loki said. “Just the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. Now I can drop the charade and conquer you pitiful fools once and for all.” Tony downright smiled at that with a huge shit eating grin, the bastard, but Steve didn’t think it was funny at all. 

“I don’t know if Shield should have that,” Tony said. 

“We—” Steve almost looked back to where Bruce was to reassure himself, but handled it. “Were going to keep it a secret from Shield. Natasha found out where it is, and—timing is important, as I said—”

“That’s something we can both agree on,” Tony said. “Where is it?” 

Steve reluctantly gave the location only to see Loki disappear a moment later. “He—” Steve said. Loki appeared, dropping the scepter on the table with a loud thunk and turning back to Tony, intent on continuing their discussion. “You’re just going to—” Steve frowned, staring at it. 

“If you are taking its security upon yourselves I will relocate it to a secure location myself,” Loki said. 

“Pocket dimension it,” Tony said before Steve could speak. “We can figure that one out later.” 

“I don’t enjoy this becoming a habit,” Loki answered him, vanishing the item away. Steve didn’t know what they were talking about, but he was certain of one thing. The scepter was in their hands. 

“Thank you,” Steve said. “Maybe we should inspect it,” he started. 

“Finders keepers,” Tony said. 

“Steve,” Bruce called over. Steve considered arguing, but left when he heard his name again. “They’ll take care of it,” Bruce told him as he walked over. “Thank god they’re here and not in the middle of some galaxy somewhere,” he said. “That would’ve been a lot harder to do on our own.” 

Steve nodded. It was out of Hydra’s hands. That was what mattered. 

 

“No, see, this is why the theory’s different,” Tony said before Steve was even out of earshot. “Before I thought he was just following his programming, mirroring behaviors because that’s what I taught him to do, right? But he _initiated_ the behavior on his own this time so—”

“—I understand that completely,” Loki said. He folded his hands in front of himself and leaned in closer to Tony. “What I fail to understand is why you want first hand experience. Surely that does not suit your scientific method?” 

Tony ruffled his hair with both hands. “Last time I wasn’t taking notes. This time, I just want to see if I _feel_ the need for destruction.” 

“I don’t see how that would be different from your usual disposition,” Loki said. 

Tony tried kicking at him under the table, but somehow Loki managed to grab his foot. His grin turned dark and playful. Tony flailed trying to get the foot back until Loki let go with a deep laugh. Tony tucked both feet under him, then stared stubbornly at Loki. “Please?” 

Loki dearly wanted to grant the request, for his own amusement. But it was that Tony was asking for it that made him want to refuse. “I find it difficult to believe you,” Loki admitted. 

Tony huffed out a deep, pitiful sigh, tilting his head back towards the ceiling. “If I pissed you off you’d do it, so why can’t you do it today?” 

“You want,” Loki said, setting an arm against the table. “For me,” he drummed his fingernails. “To turn you into one of our dear pets so that you may see if there is some inherent, innate instinct to destroy the immediate environment?” 

“Yes!” 

Loki huffed, rolling his eyes. 

“And,” Tony said hopefully, sensing a change. “Put me in the enclosure in the lab so I can see what types of things I’d be prone to go for without causing serious property damage.” 

“The way you speak,” Loki said, “makes me worry that they are destroying something right now.” He flipped his hair back over his shoulder. “Fine,” he said, holding his hand out as if about to snap his fingers. 

“Wait! Wait!” Tony said breathlessly. “Let me set some things up first.” 

 

In the evening, Bruce decided that Loki and Tony had had enough time to discuss whatever it was that they’d been on about when Steve had spoken to them. He wanted to thank Tony, and through him, Loki. He also wanted to see if Tony would tell him what they’d do with the scepter, not that he was worried. He trusted Tony. 

Yet when he came into the lab, it wasn’t Tony that he found. Loki was at the ram’s glass enclosure, resting his arms over the top of the glass and staring down with an expression halfway between boredom and amusement. “Uh,” Bruce said awkwardly. Only Loki’s eyes shifted towards him. Bruce glanced away, then noticed that the rams were in a separate glass cage. “I was coming down to talk to Tony,” Bruce explained. 

“He’ll be back in a few minutes,” Loki said. 

It was then that Bruce noticed a brown colored ram sitting still in the enclosure beside a half eaten donut. Inside, there was also an array of evenly spaced objects, ranging from a chicken egg to a computer tower from the 90’s. He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t care about their steadily growing menagerie of pets. “I’ll come back,” Bruce said, turning right back around. 

There was a particularly loud bleat from the enclosure. Loki mumbled something. 

“Hey Bruce!” Tony called. 

Bruce stopped just shy of the door and turned back around. “Where were you—” He started, before he realized it was a dumb question. Magic. For all he knew, Tony could’ve been back in that castle house a million galaxies away that he was always talking about. 

“I was just gathering scientific proof that Brynjar’s an asshole,” Tony said brightly. “A cute little asshole,” he added. Loki was rolling his eyes, even as he grinned. 

“Meanwhile, you’re just a greedy little asshole,” Loki said quietly enough that Bruce figured it wasn’t really meant for him. 

Bruce paused. Then he turned around and walked right out, wondering when exactly their lives had turned into this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on [tumblr](http://chaoscrafter.tumblr.com) sometimes.


	70. Sweaters.

It took Loki a few moments to place where he was. The ugly oil paintings of tiny cottages were certainly Midgardian, as were the pitiable walls, composed of decaying logs with thick smears of a dirtied white paste. Although the kitchen was dimly lit, Loki thought the old stove looked familiar. He set his hand upon it, trying to remember. 

Then he heard Tony’s voice behind him. Loki turned around, wondering how he’d missed the blinding light pouring in from the adjacent room. Tony’s voice was not directed at him, but Loki couldn’t tell who it was towards. He took a few steps in the direction of that room just as it hit him. The cabin. This was the cabin he’d taken Tony to one winter. They'd gone sledding. Loki smiled out of amusement, recalling that this was the place Tony had settled on only after being shown nearly a dozen others. 

Loki stepped towards the golden glow, recognizing Tony’s brown scruff in the distance. There was a warm, roaring fire in the hearth. Loki recalled the evening they’d spent in front of that fire, sipping wine, with a fierce fondness. 

He tilted his head, trying to see what Tony was doing crouched down on the floor. Tony said something else that he couldn’t make out. He gestured towards something. Then Loki’s breath caught in his throat. 

A small child was sitting on the thread barren rug in front of Tony. He looked to be no older than six, with a crayon clenched in his tiny fist. His huge brown eyes were supernaturally soft and gentle, and if the fat tears in the corners of them hadn’t been welling up, he would’ve seemed too perfect to be real. 

“It’s okay. You can try again,” Tony told the boy. “It’s okay to make mistakes. Daddy makes lots of mistakes too. Remember how I messed up your other daddy’s tea this morning?” 

The boy rubbed at his eyes, a tear sliding down his face as the green crayon brushed against his skin. 

He looked remarkably like Tony. Loki could see something of himself in the boy though. An impression. Tony’s impression of him. The boy was undoubtedly theirs. 

It was then that Loki knew he was dreaming. 

When he dreamed of their children, they always looked like him, except for Tony’s warmth and carefree smile. 

This had to be Tony’s dream, then. 

It wasn’t real. Disappointment rushed over him, threatening to tear apart the dream. Loki clung to it, trying desperately not to try so hard, to stay asleep and not wake up. Even if it was only a dream, he wanted to see. The room flickered, but then he heard Tony’s voice again. The scene returned. Loki relaxed, letting it come back into focus. 

“What if we draw it out?” Tony asked. He held up a piece of paper and the boy passed the crayon to his father without a word, radiating trust and cautious hope. Tony scribbled three woefully lopsided circles. “How many grapes do I have here?” 

“Thwee,” the boy said softly. His face scrunched up. “Three,” he said, fighting to grasp his r sound. 

“Right!” The boy brightened a little. Tony scribbled more. “And this is three more, right?” The boy nodded. “So if I put them together, how many do I get? Let’s count them.” Loki leaned his shoulder against the doorframe as he listened to them counting together. He’d crossed his arms over his chest, but his expression was gentle. “What was the last one we said?” 

“Six!” 

“So three plus three is…?” 

“Six!” 

“See? You got it.” The boy had a hesitant smile, but his eyes flickered back down towards the paper. He was wearing a thick wool sweater with a bilgesnipe knitted on the front. Loki thought that was a curious detail. “I think that’s enough math for tonight.” 

“But I’m—”

“You’re getting the hang of it,” Tony reassured him. He rattled a large box of crayons. “Do you want to draw me something? You are so good at drawing. We need to get something new up on the fridge.” 

The boy immediately went to work. Loki took a hesitant step into the room, craning his neck to see what the boy was drawing past Tony’s shoulder without being noticed. He was afraid that if he interrupted the scene, Tony would wake and he’d lose the chance to witness it.

Loki recognized himself in the scribbling scrawl immediately. The child was drawn in the middle, with one hand in Loki’s and the other in what looked to be the start of Tony. “Oh. Hey, Lo.” Loki froze. Tony started to stand, and despite Loki’s petrified expression, didn’t act as if anything was amiss. Loki glanced at the boy, trying to capture one last glimpse of him before the dream dissolved. 

But it didn’t. Tony walked up beside him, crossing his arms over his hilariously matching sweater. “He’s struggling with his addition facts again,” Tony whispered, voice too low for the child to hear. “It’s got him really upset. He won’t stop asking me to teach him.” 

Loki wasn’t sure what response was expected. Did that displease Tony? Was he supposed to say something reassuring? Or was he supposed to commiserate with Tony? What answer would keep Tony from realizing that it was him in the dream, and not a dream version of him? Loki smiled awkwardly. 

Tony spoke instead. “I’m worried,” he whispered. Disappointment started to sink through Loki again. “Clint told him I built my first engine at six, the fucking idiot.” Loki couldn’t stop the shock from spreading across his face. Tony had never spoken about Clint with such vitriol. “I’m afraid that he compares himself to us. He’s got us for dads and we’ve accomplished so much—I don’t want him to think we love him less because he’s normal, you know?” 

Loki almost fell out of the dream right then. 

He wanted to pull Tony into his arms to shower him with affection, and the only thing that stopped him was the conviction that doing so would wake Tony up. “You—” Loki said, wanting to hear explicitly what he knew he’d understood. “Don’t mind that he’s—normal?” 

“Are you kidding?” Tony gave him a playful shove on the arm. “You know my biggest fear was being a shit father. I didn’t think I could handle this. At all.” Tony stared back at the child by the fireplace. “But I think I do okay. I love him. So what if he struggles with math and is a little behind the other kids?” 

Loki was going to lose all self control and grab Tony right then. 

But Tony’s expression suddenly changed. He looked back to Loki with some hesitancy before asking, “You mind, though? I know you’re disappointed that he can’t do magic like you, Lo.” Tony said it extra soft, as if it were too painful for Loki to bear. 

“No,” Loki said immediately. “Not at all. I’m so happy, Tony—”

He woke up in bed, the elated giddiness still soaring in his chest. 

Loki sat up.

He tucked the dream away, deep into his memory for easy retrieval. It was so rare for him to happen into Tony’s dreams. Making the excessive effort and planning required never seemed worthwhile. He was immensely grateful that it had happened naturally tonight. 

A faint snore told him that Tony was asleep beside him. Loki smiled down at the shadowed form huddled under the covers. 

Before, one child had seemed like a lofty, scarcely obtainable goal. 

Now he would settle for no less than twelve.


	71. Throne and Open Bar

Loki sauntered into the common room, looking as though he’d simply appeared there despite actually taking the elevator for once. Clint was on the couches with Tony, looking none too impressed with the bow in Tony’s hands. 

“Tony,” Loki said. He stopped several feet short of the couch. “I’m leaving.” 

Tony turned his head, still clinging to the bow. “Where’re you going?” 

“Out for a few days. I grow tired of this realm.” He wove his fingers together between his back, focused on the expressions flitting across Tony’s face. 

In many ways he’d prefer for Tony to come with him, but he had decided to allow Tony to spend the remainder of whatever time was left in his mortal friends’ short lives at the tower. It was better for Tony, he had decided. But not him. 

So he took trips when he needed them, and sometimes Tony came along. 

There was a slight pout on Tony’s lips, but Loki could tell that Tony wouldn’t say anything. They locked eyes, sizing up each other. 

“Take him with you.” 

Clint’s voice startled them both.

They abandoned their silent battle to turn to him. Loki’s eyebrows rose in expectant surprise, encouraging Clint to elaborate. Tony’s mouth immediately dropped open. “What?” Tony all but screeched. 

“You need a break,” Clint said. He took the bow from Tony’s limp hands. “I can’t take all this mother henning.” 

“I—I am _not_ mother henning. When have I ever been accused of that in my life?” Tony spun around on the couch towards Loki, seeking backup. “Tell him, Lo. I’m the most selfish bastard you’ve ever met.” 

Loki fought off the faint smile twitching at his lips. Tony wrote off his support before Loki could speak. “Isn’t everyone always giving me crap about my ego? Look,” he told Clint. “Playboy and mother hen do not go together. You take those words out of your mouth right now—”

“I already said it,” Clint reminded him. “Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate it Tony, but I can’t take a piss without knocking into some new magical crap you’ve invented around here. This is the third bow you’ve given me in the last two weeks, Tony. The third!” 

“It was a minor update.” 

“It looks entirely different!” 

They heard the elevator open behind them. “Nat,” Clint said. “Tell Loki that Tony needs to go with him.” Clint crossed his arms. “Take him.” 

“He’s right,” Natasha said with utter, nonchalant conviction. She passed by them on her way over to retrieve a book from a shelf. 

Loki had been holding out on his laughter, but let loose now. Tony seized up. “Loki!” He said indignantly. “This is not funny! Clint’s ungrateful, tell him he’s ungrateful—”

“You’re bored and we need a break from mother hen, Tony,” Natasha called over to him. 

“That’s what I said!” Clint exclaimed. 

“Have you guys been talking about me?” Tony asked, getting himself worked up. 

“No more than usual,” Clint said. Natasha walked up beside the couch, setting the book against her hip. Her eyes flicked towards Loki. 

“So, where will you two be going?” She asked. Loki wiped a tear from his eye. “I’ll babysit your demon children for you free of charge.” 

“Natasha,” Tony said at the same time that Loki spoke. 

“A party.”

“What party?” Tony asked. It was Clint’s turn to laugh. 

“Now you’re interested,” Clint said. 

“Loki has good connections,” Tony said. 

Loki gave him an odd look before saying, “You’ll find out soon enough.” He set his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “Go disassemble whatever experiments you have going that would jeopardize your teammates’ safety in your absence. I shall prepare our pets to be under Romanov’s care.” 

“I don’t have anything like tha—shut up. Ten minutes,” Tony said, standing. Loki followed after him to the elevators. _Thank you_ Natasha mouthed towards him. Loki smiled, almost allowing himself to acknowledge his fondness towards Tony’s mortal companions. 

 

“Where are we?” Tony asked, gawking up towards the ornate ceiling. Thousands of intricate, mechanical golden patterns were moving in perfect synchronicity. He bumped into Loki’s back. 

“Do pay attention where you are going,” Loki said. “You look every part a tourist.” 

“It’s not like there’s anyone here to notice,” Tony said. He stuck his hands in his suit pockets. He’d overdressed, probably. Loki hadn’t appreciated the cat print t-shirt beneath his suit jacket. He sighed, staring out over the vast room. “So, it’s not a party then?” 

“It is,” Loki said. 

“Then why isn’t anyone here?” 

“Can you not be patient?” Loki’s leathers whipped in the motion with him as he turned to face Tony. “We have not yet crossed the Great Hall.” 

Tony pouted, pulling his tinted glasses from his suit. “Fine,” he said, setting them on. Loki shook his head, then started walking. “It is at the doors at the end of the hall.” 

Tony squinted. “You mean the door that’s the size of my thumb?” 

“Don’t be so dramatic.” 

Tony glared at the back of Loki’s head, making note of the fine beads he’d strung in his straightened locks. A thin gold chain peeked out from his neck, then disappeared beneath his collar. There were hints of crimson in his ordinarily green accented getup, although the green still dominated. “Who—sent you this invite, exactly?” Tony asked. He couldn’t remember the last time that Loki had gotten dressy beyond a suit. 

“No one writes the invitations,” Loki said. “Only those of notable influence in the nine realms are invited, but the finer details of the spell that writes the invitation are not made public.” 

Tony made a low hum in acknowledgment, then went back to trying to figure out the ceiling for a while. “You said there’d be drinking,” Tony said. 

“Rest assured, Stark. There will be.” Loki glanced back at him. “But do recall that there are many liquors not made for your Midgardian form, apple or not.” He grinned, a dark amusement flitting beneath his warm expression. 

“How am I supposed to know the difference?” Tony shrugged. “That’s why I have you to poof my hangover away.” Loki rolled his eyes. “But I’m getting the impression that this is a more formal, political kind of thing.” 

“Believe me, it is not,” Loki said with humor. They fell silent again. 

When they finally reached the door, Loki stopped. He turned back to Tony. His eyes dropped to Tony’s chest. Reaching out, Loki grabbed the panels of Tony’s suit jacket. He straightened them out, sighing at Tony’s shirt again. “Do you…want me to change it?” 

“No,” Loki said, shaking his head. His long fingers brushed a stray strand of hair from Tony’s face. He patted Tony’s shoulders once before letting go. “It is a reasonably safe environment. No one would dare to lay a hand on us here, but do be careful not to leave the premises.” He smiled softly. “We are free to have a good time,” he said, turning back around. Tony followed as he pushed open the door, not sure what to think of that. 

He forgot the moment they were inside, though. 

He’d been expecting a lot of different beings, standing stiffly and making small talk over dainty appetizers. This room was huge. And packed. And _loud_. 

Tony had thought he’d gotten a pretty good handle on the realms in their travels, but in realizing that he hadn’t seen a good deal of the types of beings in the room before, his travels felt woefully lacking. Not even half of the room was humanoid. Creatures with feathers were playing on what looked to be the equivalent of a chandeliers, swinging them back and forth while the crowded dance floor roared on below.

When Tony realized that he’d been staring, he immediately glanced around for Loki, not really wanting to get lost here. Loki hadn’t moved, but he was watching Tony with a terribly smug look on his face. “Would you care for a drink?” Loki asked. 

“Try five,” Tony said. He felt Loki’s hand take his and realized he’d been gawking again. 

“The party lasts for approximately half of one of your Midgardian days,” Loki said. “You will have plenty of time to acclimate.” 

“Why’re you calling it your Midgard again?” Tony asked. They’d been staying at the tower often enough that Loki had started calling it Earth. And come to think of it, Tony hadn’t seen Loki’s leather getup in ages. 

“Is that not what it is?” Loki asked with a note of boredom. Tony huffed but didn’t say anything. 

They were stopped five times before they made it to the bar, always by someone that knew Loki. They acted with surprise when Tony was introduced. Their eyes would rake over him a few times once the connection was made, and though Tony couldn’t really read non-human expressions, he sensed judgment. He was beginning to feel like the strangest one in the room. 

Relief hit once they made it to the bar. It was computerized, which Tony could appreciate. He didn’t need to watch Loki tap at the screen to figure it out. Tony scrolled through the menu a few times before settling on what was billed as a beer equivalent. A gaudy goblet was pulled up from the bottom of the machine and filled by a metal spigot. 

Tony took a whiff before trying it. 

Close enough. 

Loki was holding the same type of goblet, but it was filled with a light blue liquid. “I want to try yours,” Tony said. He held out his goblet to trade. Loki smirked, holding it back. 

“One sip,” he said firmly, before extending it within Tony’s reach. 

Tony gulped down two before he started coughing, practically shoving the goblet at Loki. Tears started falling from his eyes. His tongue tasted like a brick of anise. “I did say one,” Loki said, unimpressed. 

“What the hell is that?” Tony coughed, accepting his goblet back from Loki and downing some. 

“I don’t believe that there is a Midgardian equivalent,” Loki said. “Stay away from anything on that menu that is not compared to something that you already know.” Tony nodded. There had been food on the menu too. He moved out of the way so that a raptor-like creature could use the machines they’d been standing in front of. “Shall we?” Loki asked, smiling. 

Tony took a heavy sip from his beer and followed. It wasn’t long before they were stopped again, but this time the creature that was so intent on talking to Loki had a partner with them as well. 

They were rather fish like, with large glassy eyes hidden beneath a transparent veil. Flowers adorned their head in a bright pink that contrasted their dark blue scales. They extended their fin towards Tony. 

He stared at it, uncertain of what to do. “You shake, right?” Tony blinked. The fish had a beautiful voice. 

“Yeah,” Tony fumbled, extending his hand. It was awkward, but he didn’t really mind. “How’d you know?” He asked, fascinated. He pushed his colored glasses back towards his face. 

“I have an intuitive sense for communication patterns, almost like—” The fish laughed. “Being psychic, I think you’d call it.” Tony smiled, expression lighter. “This is your first invitation,” they said. 

“I don’t have the invite,” Tony said. He nodded his head towards Loki, noticing that he was adamantly debating something with the fish creature’s partner. “He does.” 

The fish shook their head. “You cannot enter this room without an invite.” 

“Huh.” Was that sneaky bastard not going to tell him? “I didn’t get a letter, or how do you find out, exactly?” 

“Your preferred method of communication.” 

Tony took a moment. Wait. Hadn’t Jarvis said something odd a few nights ago? And he’d ignored it and forgotten because he was in the middle of—well, that’s why Loki knew he was invited then. 

“Would you like me to show you around?” The fish asked, adjusting their veil. “They will be at it for a while.” Tony took one look at Loki and nodded. 

 

Forty minutes later Loki had finished the argument and amiably parted ways with his old acquaintance, but found himself rather surprised when he looked to his left and realized that Tony was not there. He scanned the room. Then he nearly dropped his goblet. 

Tony was splashing around in the shallow fountain at the far corner of the room, laughing as he caught himself on the edge. The cyprinodon had convinced Tony to swim with them. A small group of birostris and teuthida were gathered around them. One reached out a fin to brush away a lily pad that had slumped over Tony’s shoulder. 

Loki took a definitive step in that direction.

Really, he hadn’t expected for Tony to get into any trouble, and here Tony was, splashing around in the fountain with creatures positively fawning over him. And since when would Tony allow one of his suits to get wet? As Loki got closer, he realized that Tony was perfectly dry. The water wrapped around and past him, never truly coming into contact with him. 

The cyprinodon was doting on him with magic too, then!

Loki felt a hand on his arm. He snapped around, fuming, but the look dropped off his face when he recognized who it was. Loki stole one glance towards the fountain before deciding that he had told Tony that he could have a good time. And the fish weren’t much of a threat to be jealous over, if he really thought about it. 

 

Tony was laughing so hard that he was crying. Cerulean, or at least that’s what their name translated as, was a great storyteller. After a while the focus had slipped off of him, and Tony was finding out that the fish were all rather raunchy with a wicked sense of humor. 

It was a long time before Tony thought to check on Loki. A quick glance over the room found Loki in a rather heartfelt conversation with a woman that Tony could only see the side of. Tony’s grip on his goblet tightened. She was dressed in Aesir clothing. Tony bit his lip before one of Cerulean’s fins set on his knee. “No need to worry about that,” they said, softly for only Tony to hear. 

Tony relaxed. He didn’t know why, but he knew that Cerulean was right. “Tell me another story about one of your exes.” 

“Tell him about Kelp!” One of the fish exclaimed. 

 

Loki went back to the bar. He punched in an order, staring unhappily as the drink was poured. This was the last place he’d expected to be chastised by someone from Asgard. He hadn’t considered that there would be anyone from Asgard, let alone one of Idunn’s handmaidens. 

Apparently, Idunn had been sincere about inviting them for a meal. 

Truly, he’d never understand the affection she held towards them. 

But he was grateful. 

So they were going to a meal with the goddess and her husband in two weeks. Loki sighed, twirling the drink around. He stepped back into the crowd, searching for a familiar face. His eyes met a curious dwarf’s but he kept looking. He did not expect the dwarf to come over. “You are Loki of Jotenheim, Asgard, and Midgard, are you not?” 

Loki’s eye twitched. 

“We would be honored to make your acquaintance,” the dwarf said, taking a deep bow. 

On second thought, perhaps it would not hurt to say hello. 

 

Eventually, the group of fish parted ways and Tony had to get something to eat. He keyed in for fries easily enough, but when Tony went back to the drink menu, he was curious. Really curious. 

It wasn’t that he doubted Loki’s advice, but Loki wasn’t standing there either, was he? Tony tapped through a list of drinks that hadn’t translated. 

If he clicked on them, a description in English appeared. 

_Minty, with a hint of cream. No alcoholic content._

_Blend of yogurt, mango, and vodka alternative. Famed drink of Messier 51._

The one beneath it was struck through with a line. _Toxic to individuals of your species._ Well, if it was that simple, Tony couldn’t really go wrong, could he? 

Tony selected the strangest one for the hell of it, took a sip, and put it back. His second, safer but equally difficult to translate drink was much better. And boozier. Grinning to himself, Tony went back out towards the floor. 

He had planned to take an open seat at one of the tables, but then he thought he saw the back of Loki’s head. Tony pushed past a few groups of creatures and bumped into one playing an instrument. Maybe he hadn’t seen Loki. 

Tony ate his fries as he wandered, not really bothering to hide the fact that he was still gawking over everything. A couple of times he had conversations with creatures, but none of them lasted very long. Tony went back for another drink, comfortably tipsy. He carried it with him as he wandered. 

Then he caught sight of Loki. 

 

Loki beamed down at Tony from the golden chair he was draped over, a goblet cupped between his hands as his feet hung over the side of the arm rest. 

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Tony muttered under his breath. 

“Tony!” Loki slurred. He extended one hand in Tony’s direction, pointed downward. It took Tony a moment to realize that he was offering it to be kissed. Tony side eyed him before giving one of the dwarfs by the chair a very unkind look. Tony took a step towards Loki’s makeshift throne. 

A hand grabbed his pant leg. “We request that you maintain a respectable distance from our guest.” 

“Your guest?” Tony asked. He laughed. “Do you know what your guest and I have done together? If I want to go over to him I will, we’ve—”

“He may approach,” Loki announced over the rim of his goblet. He sipped slowly, above speaking to Tony again. The hand at Tony’s leg reluctantly let go. 

Tony ignored the suspicious, even reproachful looks thrown in his direction. “What’re you doing?” 

Loki smirked at him, tapping his finger against the brim of his goblet. 

“Sharing stories,” Loki said, trying for innocence and failing miserably. He chuckled, almost giggled, as he stared with lazy eyes at his drink. 

“Yeah, okay guys. I think this party is over. It was really, really nice of you—”

“—Leave them be.” 

“Uh, I don’t know what’s in that drink they brought you—”

“—Nothing. You’re being horribly rude—”

“Uh no. No, no.” Tony crawled into Loki’s lap, knocking his goblet. The liquid sloshed right up to the brim but didn’t spill. Tony draped his arms over Loki’s shoulders, still managing to keep ahold of his own goblet. “I’m not gonna sit here and watch—”

“Tony!” Loki’s knees hit Tony’s back as he tried to sit up. He glanced towards his audience, only to find that the dwarves had abandoned him once the arguing began. He gave a dull, pouting hum and sank back against the chair. “You’ve spoiled my fun.” 

“I’m not even going to ask what you did to con them into that act,” Tony said. He took a heavy drink from his goblet. 

“Nothing.” 

Tony’s deadpan stare stayed fixed on Loki until Loki reached out and flicked his pointer finger against Tony’s nose, grinning. Loki laughed to himself, then tilted his head back as he took another drink. “Whatever,” Tony mumbled, knocking back some of his own drink. 

Loki leaned in towards him. At first Tony thought that it was because Loki wanted him, but then Loki was taking a deep whiff over Tony’s drink. “What is this?” He asked, voice high and strained. 

Tony pulled the goblet away. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, forehead bumping against Loki’s. “I read the whole menu. This one’s fine for me.” 

Loki grabbed Tony’s hand. It wasn’t the most coordinated effort in the world, but then again, Tony’s resistance wasn’t either. With his hand around Tony’s, Loki brought Tony’s goblet up to his lips and sipped. 

He let out a sound that was half derision and half amusement. As he let go, Tony eyed the goblet in Loki’s hand. Loki didn’t even move as Tony lowered his head and stole a drink. It was awfully sweet. Tony scowled. Loki sighed at the goblet. “Who will bring me another drink now?” He bemoaned before turning a charming smile towards Tony. 

“Forget about it,” Tony answered. Loki set a hand on Tony’s hip, distracted already. “Hey,” Tony said. “I heard I got an invite to this thing.” 

“Of course you did,” Loki said. “How else would you be here?” His words were muffled by sipping the last of his goblet. It rolled from his hands and onto the floor. “You told Jarvis to fuck off, remember?” Loki laughed. “Well, I guess your mouth was full.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “I don’t talk to Jarvis like that.”

“Other words then,” Loki said, petting Tony’s head like he would a cat. “Tony.” 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” 

Tony’s drink still hadn’t washed away the rest of the sweetness left behind by Loki’s. Tony finished off the rest of it, then dropped it the floor beside the other goblet. “Tony.” 

“What?” 

Loki laughed. “Nothing.” 

Tony wrapped his arms around Loki’s shoulders and let out a deep sigh. Then he noticed that they were being watched again. 

One of the dwarves had returned alone. When they realized that Tony was watching, they approached, hands furiously wringing at the bottom of their tunic. “Is it—true you forged a suit that lives on its own?” 

“It was a little more complicated than that,” Tony said, probably too loudly. Loki’s fingers wound up over his mouth. 

“He’s parched,” Loki said. Tony’s hands fumbled at his wrist, then pushed it away with a bit too much force, causing Tony to bump into Loki’s chest. When Tony had finished scowling at Loki, he turned to see that the dwarf was gone. Then he felt Loki’s finger at his nose again. 

“Stop.” 

“Stop,” Loki repeated. He caught the end of Tony’s nose and held it, laughing to himself again. “Got your nose.” 

“Quit being weird,” Tony complained, batting the hand away. Then he noticed that a goblet was extended towards him. Loki’s hand reached out and snatched the other goblet in the dwarf’s hands, but it took a few nudges from the dwarf for Tony to reluctantly accept the goblet he was handed in a wave of pity. “Thanks,” he managed. 

“You wanted to hear about the suit, didn’t you?” Tony scooted back into the chair, trying to get comfortable in Loki’s lap without any help from the god. “Do you want to hear what it does, or how it’s made or…?” 

“Always about the suit,” Loki said. “He’s always going on about the suit.” He twirled the goblet around, casting a condescending look towards the crowd like someone there would agree with him. Tony ignored him. 

“Well,” Tony said. “I’ve got one that’s for deep space. It’s got a compression gel because of g-force, right? And there’s a solar sail on it, but that’s not useful for a lot of the places that I’d apply it—”

“Tony,” Loki interrupted. “They do not wish to know of the technicalities, tell them of your battles—”

“It’s been a while since I used the suit for something other than a joyride.” 

At those words Tony’s mood soured, but the statement only seemed to have made Loki happier. He hummed to himself as he went back to sipping from his goblet and ignoring the man in his lap. Two more dwarves appeared, waiting eagerly beside their friend. “Uhh—” Tony started, realizing he was probably a little too drunk to be doing this. “I fly real good.” 

Loki seized into a fit of laughter. Tony started smiling just because it was so ridiculous. There was some murmuring between the dwarves before they decided to leave with a quick goodbye. Loki had laughed so hard that he was crying. 

“Shove it,” Tony said. 

For a while they just sat there, Loki draped across the makeshift throne with Tony in his lap like it was nothing. The party raged on around them. A group of humanoid figures passed by, more than a couple of them looking intently at Loki. 

Tony threw himself against Loki’s chest, barely managing to hold on to his goblet as he glared at the passing group. “What are you doing?” Loki asked dully. 

“Protecting my family from lecherous aliens,” Tony said forcefully. 

“Your what?” Loki asked, amused. He thought that Tony was drunk babbling. 

“My family,” Tony said, confused at the way Loki’s body was going stiff beneath him. He sat up, only to find that Loki was staring at him in shock. “You,” Tony said. “Duh.” Loki was being obtuse on purpose. “Well, you and Rhodey and Pepper, don’t get mad about that, you know there’s nothing romantic between us anymore, I kind of messed that up ages ago, but you two have an understanding and anyway, I don’t like the way that one alien was looking at you!” Suddenly he realized that Loki was bent forward and hugging him. 

Loki closed his eyes and held Tony. 

Tony smiled softly, running his fingers through Loki’s hair and knocking a few gold beads loose. They fell onto the floor. Loki took in a deep breath through his nose. The wetness on his cheeks was not from laughing earlier.

“Didn’t you—” Tony’s voice became soft, his expression pained. “Know that?” Fuck. Maybe he’d said the wrong thing, he just hadn’t been thinking.

Loki breathed in, setting his hand on Tony’s shoulder. He took a sip from his goblet before speaking. “I should like to hear it a great deal more.” 

“Of course you are!” Tony set his goblet down on the arm of the throne so that he could place both hands on Loki’s chest. “What do you think that apple thingy was about? That’s like getting married to the infinity power!” Tony pouted, rocking his hips as he tried to get comfortable again. “You’re the only one I’d follow around like this. I love you, duh, if you wanna label it, duh you’re my family—” Tony reached for his goblet. He didn’t feel drunk enough yet for this heartfelt chat. “You’re ridiculous, you know that? Ridiculous. I’m gonna tell Jarvis,” Tony added childishly. 

Loki was smiling again, although this time he was looking out over the party as if gloating to everyone there. 

“Aren’t you—don’t you consider us—”

Tony’s sudden uncertainty took Loki by surprise. 

“Of course,” Loki said assuredly, wrapping his arms around Tony again. Tony had to sort of bend down with him, while both tried to balance their goblets. Loki kissed the side of Tony’s head, watching the floor with protectiveness towards Tony. “We are.” Tony sighed, letting the spin of alcohol carry him away. 

Suddenly, the pieces clicked together. This whole time Loki had been thinking that he needed a child to solidify that connection, to say without doubt that he had started a family of his own. 

And yet, he already had. The entire time. 

Tony sneezed. “Is the hangover for this going to be a bitch?” Tony asked, rubbing his nose as he sat back up. At this point he was blatantly straddling Loki’s lap with one leg trapped between Loki and the chair while the other dangled off the edge. Loki slowly extended a hand to pluck the glasses from Tony’s face. 

“I don’t know,” Loki said, folding the glasses’ arms shut. The light caught on the wine colored surface. “Does it matter?” 

Tony snatched the glasses back. “I’m going to need these,” he said, sliding them back on. 

Loki sipped slowly, intent on finishing off the goblet. Tony went back to staring at the room like a charmed child. Loki smiled. “Tony, pick a number.” 

“Forty-eight.” 

Loki pursed his lips. “Something lower.” 

“Uhh, six.” 

Loki considered that, licking his lips as he finished the final sip. “That is doable.” 

“What is?” 

Loki began to laugh. 

Tony gave him a look, then turned away. “I don’t want to know,” he decided. Loki’s hand set on his hip. 

“What would you say to delaying our return to the tower for a few days?” 

“You’re going to have to sober up before we poof away anywhere,” Tony answered. Loki shrugged, looking over the floor with boredom, knowing that Tony was right. “I like this,” Tony said. “I’m having a good time.” 

Loki stopped watching the room to glance back at Tony. A small smile tilted his lips. “Me too.”


	72. Lokitty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a drabble because I've been enjoying the Lokitty trope recently. :)

Tony’s lab was stuffed to the gills with all of the shit that Loki had let him pick up on their travels, giving Tony plenty of things to investigate and create in their downtime. Even though Tony was still popping back to Midgard every other week, the time spent in their castle home felt like it was lifetimes apart. Despite this, Tony still found time to be bored. He wandered out into the garden, looking for Loki. 

Tony spotted him in the distance. He walked through the overgrown weeds, wondering why creating a path had never been a priority. Of course, he wasn’t going to do it. “Loki,” Tony called over. 

Loki was grinding something with a mortar and pestle at a table. There were shelves of plants lined up behind the stone table, most of the potted flowers and leafy things marked with slender tags in Loki’s handwriting. “Loki,” Tony whined. “I’m bored.” 

“That is apparent,” Loki said, not looking up from his work. Tony leaned his hip against the table, trying to catch Loki’s attention. 

“What’re you doing?” Tony asked. 

“Making a tincture.” 

“For fun times?” Tony asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

There was a flicker of amusement on Loki’s face, and Tony knew then that Loki wasn’t annoyed with the interruption. “No,” Loki said, pressing one hand to Tony’s chest. His bright eyes flickered to Tony, a smile twitching at his lips. 

“Lo,” Tony said. “I’m so bored.” He snuck a hand in around Loki’s hips. “Let’s go somewhere new.” 

Loki opened his mouth to say something, but his elbow knocked the pestle, sending the mortar crashing onto the ground. One moment they were both staring at it, and the next moment Tony was staring at a black cat. 

The cat looked up over its shoulder at him, eyes the most vivid shade of green that Tony had ever seen. 

And that smug amusement definitely belonged to Loki. 

It stretched, seemingly nonplussed with Tony’s shock, its long back arching in the action. The cat was slightly larger than most cats, with a slender frame and broad chest, the fur so inky and black that it seemed to absorb the sunlight. Tony didn’t move until it had jumped up on the table. It bumped Tony’s arm with its head. 

“Lo-ki?” Tony asked, even though he knew the answer. 

The cat let out a long meow. Tony looked to the smashed mortar and pestle. Fuck. 

Every damn time he came out to this stupid garden something bad happened with Loki’s spells. 

Tony was about to speak, but the cat leapt off the table, then disappeared into the grass. “Loki!” A few seconds later, he spotted Loki turning back towards him, glancing at him once before disappearing into the house. 

“Shit.” Tony ran both hands through his hair. “Shit. Fuck. Shit.” He stared at the mixture on the ground. Loki didn’t seem to use spell books half the time, and he wasn’t today. There were zero clues to go from. 

Tony jogged towards the house.

 

Tony found cat-Loki sitting on the kitchen counter, his long tail swishing back and forth. “Loki?” Tony asked. The cat blinked. “Meow once for yes.” 

There was nothing but the flick of a tail. “Can you understand me?” 

The cat hopped off the counter.

“Loki, seriously, if you don’t answer me—” The cat sprinted out of the room. 

Maybe he was a cat now, with a cat’s brain and all. 

Tony debated for a few seconds more before making a decision. 

 

Tony jumped when he saw the beam of light outside, but he was to the doorway before Thor could reach it. “What ails you?” Thor demanded, tense with worry. 

“Loki,” Tony said, gesturing for Thor to follow him. Thor practically ran him over as they hurried towards the atrium with the sun patch where Tony had seen Loki last. “He’s—”

The moment Thor’s eyes set on the sleeping cat his worry vanished. He came to a dead stop, shoulders slumping. “Tony, son of Stark, while I appreciate your camaraderie with my brother, I do not appreciate your acquiring his sense of humor,” Thor said, beyond exasperated. “I was in the midst of a critical negotiation with Asgard’s allies. I do not have the time for your pranks.” 

“Thor,” Tony said, bewildered. “He’s—” Tony gestured at him. “A. Cat!” 

“Yes,” Thor said, making Tony feel stupid for stating the obvious. “I must return. Do not use the emergency signal in this manner again.” 

“Thor—” Tony started, but now the worry was leaving him too. He felt played. “He does this?” Tony called after him. 

“Aye.” 

Tony didn’t see Thor off. He turned towards the cat napping on the floor. “You made Thor think I was an idiot,” he said. No reaction. “I hope you enjoy being a cat. You know what? I’m glad you’re a cat. Maybe my ass can finally get a break.” Loki had been all over him lately, almost to the degree that Tony, of all people, was feeling like he needed a rest. 

There was zero reaction from the cat. Tony didn’t think that he was really asleep though. There was no way he hadn’t woken up with the noise. Tony glared at him for a moment longer before swiftly exiting the room. Loki wouldn’t have fun without an audience. 

Tony passed the rams on his way down the hall. “Wait until you get a load of that,” Tony muttered to himself. They ignored him in favor of torturing a poor little beetle they’d found. “Actually,” Tony said. “I want to see this.” 

He snatched up the rams, ignoring the way their beady eyes shifted towards him with peaked interest. “I have a job for you,” he told them. Tony set them down on the ground in the atrium, a few yards away from Lokitty. “Go.” 

Andor’s fur bristled. He puffed up like a bursting popcorn kernel. Brynjar observed his reaction but failed to produce the same result. He tried a couple of times before letting out a pathetic whine. 

Tony held in a laugh, struggling not to alert Loki. His eyes were watering from the effort. 

Lokitty did actually seem to be sleeping in the sun patch now, if the slow rise and fall of his back was anything to go on. Tony sat down on the arm of a couch. Andor hadn’t moved. 

Brynjar took a few cautious steps forward, then became emboldened. He charged forward, slamming his helmeted head into Lokitty’s hips. The cat’s head lifted, eyes blinking awake. Brynjar was already back on his hooves, walking backwards in preparation for another charge. Lokitty turned, caught sight of Brynjar, and then proceeded to do one of the funniest things Tony had ever seen. 

Loki puffed from head to toe, his back arching up as he let out a heavy hiss. His tail looked like a feather duster. Tony’s laugh broke free. He clutched his sides, crying with laughter. Suddenly, Loki became aware of Tony, his eyes widening before he sunk his back down, mortified. 

A moment later Brynjar charged him, and this time Loki swatted his paw at the ram. It did little good when the ram tackled him to the floor with a triumphant squeal. Tony started to wheeze for air, he was laughing so hard. 

Brynjar trotted back over to Andor, brushing up against his friend with an immense sense of pride. “I don’t—” Tony said as Brynjar took a defensive stance in front of Andor. “Think they know—who feeds—them.” He broke into another fit of laughter when Loki let out a low growl, his tail puffing again. 

Lokitty hopped up onto the couch beside him, quickly walking along the back before swatting at Tony. His sharp claws narrowly missed Tony’s shoulder. “Hey,” Tony said. “If you don’t like it, turn back.” The cat’s ears flattened against its head. Embarrassed at his prank backfiring, Loki emitted a displeased yowl at Tony before leaping down from the couch. 

He couldn’t very well return with bravado and the upper hand when Tony was about to piss himself with laughter. 

Instead, Loki haughtily started down the hall before Andor found his courage. Loki sprinted at the sound of clopping hooves, mind spinning with how he’d get back at Tony as the man started laughing again. It wasn’t his fault this form was so prone to instinct. 

 

An hour later Tony found them all curled up in the sun patch, having apparently gotten over their differences. There was a fresh scratch across Brynjar’s metal faceplate though. Tony sighed, thinking he’d buff it out later. Maybe a lot later, when he got tired of teasing Loki about it. Tony sat down on the couch. At least he wasn’t bored.


	73. Lokitty II

Tony woke to something sharp pricking his back. Make that over a dozen tiny sharp pricking sensations that came with _purring_. “Loki?” Tony muttered. 

Who the fuck else’s paws would it be kneading into his back? 

His purring was as loud as a steam engine. Tony rolled over, laughing to himself as Loki fell off and had to wriggle his way out of the sheets. Tony shifted onto his side, offering as little space to lay on as possible. 

Loki had definitely been human when they went to bed, and he’d been human when they’d bickered over the whole cat thing. Tony hadn’t expected to see Loki’s cat form again so soon. 

The new position didn’t deter Loki. He crawled up on the pillow beside Tony’s head and very functional ears. 

“Stop purring,” Tony told the ball of black fur. 

It only got louder. 

“Asshole,” Tony mumbled. It was the middle of the night. He was not going to waste it trying to figure out Loki. He’d had years to work on it and he was no closer than when he’d started. Slowly, Tony drifted back to sleep. 

 

In the morning, Tony got up, completely forgetting the night before until he made it to the kitchen. Lokitty was sitting on the counter beside the coffee maker, waiting. They held eye contact as Tony walked in. 

Weird. 

Maybe Loki just wanted the attention. 

Sighing, Tony started to make his coffee. He didn’t bother to be subtle about the weird looks he was throwing towards Loki. What was his game? There were much better ways to get Tony’s attention, only half of which involved sex. Tony made his breakfast. He sat down at the table with his tablet and took a noisy sip from his coffee. 

Lokitty’s tail swished back and forth. He did not leave his spot on the counter. 

“You said you’re perfectly fine in this form, so if you’re in trouble and this is a magical oops, don’t look to me to save your ass.” Tony grabbed his spoon and started eating his cereal as he looked over designs on his tablet. Lokitty was not in the least bit amused with his warning. His judgmental cat eyes stayed fixed on the back of Tony’s head.

Lokitty hopped down from the counter. Tony thought Lokitty was about to transform, but then he hopped up on the table. Loki sat, tail twitching. 

“Just what I want. Your cat ass on the table I eat from.” 

If Loki could’ve rolled his eyes in this form, he would have. His tail flicked back and forth as he watched Tony eat, holding his bowl away from Loki with suspicion. The milk from the bowl smelled absolutely delicious. 

Loki wanted it, but he was also perfectly convinced that his human should already be serving him it. 

When Tony finished, he set the spoon down and picked up the tablet, intent on finishing his coffee as he worked. He had elected to ignore Loki. 

That would not do. 

A black paw swatted at the spoon, knocking it to the floor with a loud clatter. 

“Really?” Tony asked. 

He took a sip, pointedly not moving to pick up the spoon. 

A black paw reached for his tablet, but Tony pulled it away. Tony abandoned the cereal bowl. He started for the hall. 

Loki’s ears flicked back as he realized he was being ditched, but then the divine scent of milk hit his nose. Amusing himself by annoying Tony could wait. 

Lokitty glanced back once to make sure Tony wasn’t watching, then rushed to the bowl, tongue lapping as he plunged his face in. It was only when his paw was sliding down the side of the fairly clean bowl and causing it to roll that Loki came back to his senses. 

With milk dripping down his chin, he followed Tony’s scent to the lab door. Typical. It was shut. 

Lokitty began to scratch at it, paws padding against the heavy door with urgency. 

The scratching sound startled Tony before he realized what it was. He wondered how long Loki would do that before he gave up. Tony rubbed the sleep out of his eye, asking himself why he felt the need to get so heavily involved with people that turned into cats. When five minutes passed and the scratching still hadn’t stopped, Tony turned up his music to drown out the sound. 

Tony was hardly surprised when he saw the shadow of Loki’s human form on the far wall as Loki materialized inside, but he wasn’t thrilled when it shrank back down into a cat. Tony just kept working, ignoring him. 

At first Lokitty was quiet, but then Tony’s music cut out. Tony clenched his jaw. The best course of action was to ignore it, however, so he did. Tony heard a couple of pens hitting the floor. He wouldn’t take the bait. Then there was something metal, but it was light enough to be a screwdriver or a wrench. Fine. It wasn’t like Loki could do any heavy lifting as a cat.

Then the rams started bleating like mad from their enclosure. 

“Loki, you’re upsetting the—” Lokitty was carefully balanced on the edge of the glass, puffed up as he stared down at the rams. They’d backed themselves up into the corner of their cage away from him, but they were loud. It was almost like they were barking. “Loki, quit bothering them,” Tony scolded. “And put your fur down. You look like you got electrocuted.” 

Lokitty’s green eyes darted from the rams to Tony to something behind Tony. He leapt. Tony thought he was running for the door, but instead he was hopping up onto a shelf, knocking things over. “Enough!” Tony started for him, then broke into a run. “Why do you have to annoy me? Why can’t it be somebody else?” Lokitty snuck under the shelf, making Tony squat down. “Why don’t we go back to the tower so you can prank everyone else?” Tony stretched his arm under the shelf. He could hear Lokitty wheeze, probably from laughing. Tony’s hand made fleeting contact with his fur once or twice before Lokitty shot out. 

“Loki!” Tony ran after him. “You’re cleaning this place up!” Tony darted around two tables as Loki sprinted across the lab. Dummy spun to life as Lokitty passed. “Loki! Stop!” Dummy rushed forward. And ran over Lokitty’s tail. 

There was a loud wail. “Lo, oh, shit. Hey. Sorry. Sorry! Come here. Let me see it—” Tony crouched down as he finally caught up, only to have Loki swat at him with sharp claws. A deep, threatening growl rattled in his throat. “Just let me—” Loki hissed before running to hide under Tony’s desk. “Fine,” Tony said. 

Slowly, he walked back towards his desk. He sank down into his chair, debating what to do. 

The green eyes watched from beneath the shadows under his desk. 

Tony reached a comforting hand toward him only to be hissed at again. 

“I hope when you turn back it’s the nerves in your dick that got run over,” Tony said, falling back against his chair. “You’re the one that decided to turn into a cat and act like an asshole,” Tony reminded him. He went back to work. 

For about twenty minutes, Loki stewed under the desk. His tail had stopped hurting after the first minute, but it was hard to control himself completely like this. There was too much instinct in this form. He watched Tony, his tail swishing back and forth again. 

Tony felt fur rub up against his ankles. Tony started to turn in his chair, only to suddenly find a cat in his lap. The black cat set his paws on Tony’s chest, kneading. Tony’s hand cautiously went to stroke down his back. “This is weird,” Tony said as Lokitty started to purr. “Definitely weird.” Lokitty just nudged his head against Tony’s hand, a bead of drool falling from his sharp teeth. The purr was deafening. “Who does this?” Tony asked. 

As Lokitty’s eyes fell shut, Tony ran his fingers back and forth through his soft fur. “Why don’t you purr like this when you’re human?” Tony asked. The purring stopped. There was the swift stab of a claw in his shirt. “Hey,” Tony said. “Keep that up and I’ll stop.” 

The purring resumed as Lokitty settled back down. “So weird,” Tony mumbled. “So incredibly weird, and I’ve seen some weird shit.” Tony sighed, staring up at the ceiling. It was weird, but he figured at this point, he should probably just accept that’s how his life was.


	74. Pets

The rams circled Tony’s feet, chasing each other. “I don’t know why you have to feed them in the bedroom,” Tony said. 

Loki shut the door. “It’s easier to corral them into the bathroom to wash them afterwards,” he said, setting a wooden bowl down on the floor. Tony was going to suggest that he put the bowl in the bathroom, but there were already drops of blood on the floor from the plastic bag in Loki’s hand. Brynjar knocked into his ankle as he scrambled to the bowl. 

Andor barked and growled as Loki tore the bag open. A wet lump of meat flopped into the bowl. “There, there,” Loki cooed, stroking his fingers through Andor’s fluffy white fur as the ram tore into the bloody lump. Tony looked away. He’d never enjoyed watching this. 

Brynjar was squealing in joy. Loki rose, wiping away the blood on his hands with magic. “I don’t know why Brynjar bothers to eat that stuff,” Tony said. “I didn’t make him to run on it.” 

“He hasn’t run on his mechanics in a long time,” Loki said. Tony knew this. Loki had explained it to him before. Brynjar was just as enchanted as Andor was, and perhaps a bit more durable because of the metal workings beneath his coat. “Let’s get the bath running,” Loki said, setting his hand on Tony’s shoulder. He knew it upset Tony to watch, and though he didn’t have sympathy for that, he didn’t like to see Tony in discomfort either. 

“I should just invent a bib that wraps all the way around their head so it doesn’t get in their fur,” Tony said. 

Loki turned the tap on, filling a basin for washing them. “They need a bath anyway.” 

“But magic,” Tony suggested, watching the rams over his shoulder. His heart hadn’t been in the complaint, but Loki answered as though it was. 

“Magic,” Loki said, grabbing a pink shampoo saved specifically for the rams, “will not endear our pets to us. The point is not their shiny white coats. The point is that in caring for them, we reestablish a bond.” 

Tony was glad that he was looking away from Loki right now so that the god wouldn’t see him roll his eyes. 

They were stuffed animals, if you wanted to be technical about it. But Loki loved them, and Tony had grown to…mildly care about them. Really, they were just a stand in for children, but if Loki wanted to run the rams as training wheels or think that he was cleverly, clandestinely preparing Tony for parenthood, Tony was fine with that. As long as the rams stayed rams and they didn’t get actual children, he was fine with that. He wanted to wait a century or two before the rams stopped being their surrogate children. 

Yeah, Tony thought, he’d warmed up to the children idea somewhere along the way, but not yet. He had too much personal shit ahead with his life back on Earth to be caring for a kid too. 

“They crave your attention,” Loki said behind him. Water splashed in the sink. “Are they finished?” 

“No,” Tony said, watching Andor lick the spots on the floor. They were like wild dogs, but worse. 

Loki sighed. He dried his hands off, preparing himself to catch whichever one darted off first. They knew too well that they got baths after they were fed. He went to stand beside Tony, crossing his arms over his chest as well. 

“Which one are you grabbing?” Tony asked. 

“Whichever one runs first,” Loki answered. He stood there with Tony, both waiting like sprinters at a starting line. 

It was Brynjar that bolted first, darting under the bed before Loki’s magic spooked him out, sending him running right into Loki’s expect hands. Tony was left to chase Andor on foot with Loki laughing at his misfortune. Tony waited until he heard Loki enter the bathroom before calling forth a gauntlet. It burst out of their nightstand, scooping Andor up before assembling around his hand as Tony tucked a snarling Andor under his arm. 

Tony quietly disengaged the gauntlet and put it back before walking into the bathroom. 

Brynjar was a sudsy cloud of pink bubbles, purring contentedly as Loki scrubbed him. Tony dropped Andor in down beside his friend. The water turned a darker shade of red. 

“Maybe if you had better manners this wouldn’t happen,” Tony lectured the small ram as he reached for the shampoo. Loki chuckled. Andor growled as Tony poured a thick dollop of the shiny pink soap onto him. “At least now you’ll smell good for an hour.” 

“Do they have a smell?” Loki asked with mild curiosity. 

Andor’s purr rumbled to life as Tony scrubbed at his coat. “They do when they get down into the cellar. They dig up the bugs down there.” 

“We could redesign the atrium for them,” Loki suggested. He had never cared for that gaudy hall to begin with. 

Tony worked at a knot in Andor’s fur. “What about the bird in there?” 

“The bird would not bother them,” Loki said, pouring a cup of clean water over Brynjar. He went to scrub a new spot.

“It’s not them I’m worried about,” Tony replied lightheartedly, rubbing his thumbs over Andor’s horns as the ram bleated back happily. 

Loki abruptly let go of Brynjar, flicking the water off his hands and into the basin. “Lo?” Tony asked. Loki’s jaw was set. “Babe, you know I was—”

“—I know,” Loki answered. He did. He wasn’t upset with Tony, not really. Despite the man’s protests, Loki had seen the man sneak their pets treats and baby talk them when he thought that Loki wasn’t watching. 

No, he was frustrated because he’d seen the shift in Tony and he wanted what it meant so badly that it burned him. “I will go make us tea,” Loki said, leaving Tony behind in the bathroom in guilty silence. 

Andor and Brynjar watched Tony with mild curiosity, both purring in the warm bath water. “I think you guys will be fine for a minute,” Tony decided. He took the plush towels and set them out of the rams’ reach, just in case. 

“Lokes,” Tony said hesitantly as he entered the kitchen. Loki was watching the kettle, hunched in on himself. “Hey, uhm, I shouldn’t have made that joke—”

“—No,” Loki said. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to stand up straight. It wasn’t Tony’s fault he was hopelessly frustrated. “It is simply that when we care for our pets, I—” He pressed his fingers to his forehead, overwhelmed by angry frustration again. 

“Think about kids?” Tony asked gently behind him. Loki turned around in surprise, searching Tony’s face for every unspoken emotion, every thought. Tony reached forward, and finding no resistance, he set his comforting hands on Loki’s hips. He spoke towards Loki’s chest. “I know, Loki. But we agreed, not yet, I don’t want them to have to—”

“—I know,” Loki said. He’d unfairly forced a confession out of Tony more than once. He knew that Tony losing his life on Earth was going to hurt, and that Tony didn’t want their kid to watch him in mourning. That Tony was going to need him, and it was going to be hard on both of them. They could have the kids when they’d adjusted. Loki had absolute faith that they would now. “I know, Tony,” he said, grabbing the man and holding him close. “I know.” He rested his head against Tony’s. “It does not stop me from wanting it,” he quietly confessed. 

“I’m sorr—”

“—No,” Loki said, pressing his finger to Tony’s lips. “I am quite in agreement that we wait.” He dug his fingers into the mess of waves on Tony’s head, gripping the brown locks. “I just do not delight in the waiting.” 

Tony let out the breath he’d been holding in. He hadn’t expected to have this conversation today. To admit everything today. “Why don’t I go finish washing them up and you work on the tea?” Tony suggested. Loki let go. 

He considered it for a moment. “No, I—I should like to finish their baths with you.” 

Tony couldn’t help the little smirk on his face. He hid it from Loki though, lifting up onto his toes to kiss Loki’s neck before taking a step back. Loki’s eyes were darker when Tony pulled away. The kettle started whistling. 

Loki turned around to get it and Tony chuckled to himself, walking to their bedroom. Loki caught up just as Tony opened the bathroom door. 

Andor and Brynjar were asleep in the basin, their heads resting against each other. “I think I may have let the water run too warm,” Loki said. 

“It makes our job easier,” Tony said. The rams slept through being rinsed off, much to their parents’ delight. Tony looked to Loki in amusement as he began to dry Andor off, and found Loki looking to him with that same shared amusement. They didn’t dare to speak. 

Tony carefully ran the towel in little circles against Andor’s fur. The ram’s shiny helmet caught the light as his coat frizzed out in curls. When Tony was confidant that Andor was mostly dry, he looked up to see Loki carefully drying Brynjar’s helmet. 

Loki would make a good father too. Tony had doubts sometimes, mostly when Loki was going on a tirade at him or randomly dropping everything to chase some whim, but in the quiet moments like these he knew those fears weren’t going to win. 

“Should we tuck them in bed?” Tony whispered. 

Loki stroked his fingers over Brynjar’s fur. “Let them sleep in the kitchen with us. I doubt they will truly wake to our voices.” 

Tony followed Loki’s gentle, slow footsteps to the kitchen. Loki pulled out a chair and set Brynjar on the padded seat, patting his head. Tony carefully slipped Andor in next to him. “They are pretty cute like this,” Tony admitted. 

Loki smiled. “They’re always cute.” 

“They were just soaked in blood.” 

Loki shrugged. Tony took a seat as Loki went to the kettle, setting about making tea again. This time he hummed to himself. Tony set his elbows on the table, cradling his face in his hands. 

It was a while before Loki set a mug of tea down beside him, then paced back to the cupboards. Loki returned with his own mug and a plate of cookies that he set in the middle of the table. “They’re going to wake up when they smell these,” Tony said. 

“It may take them a while,” Loki said. “They did just eat.” He took one for himself, snapping it in half between his teeth. 

“You want to turn into a cat?” Tony asked. 

Loki froze at the absurd, random question. He didn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes. He held the cookie half away from his mouth as he answered. “No. Shall I turn you into one instead?” He tossed the rest of the cookie in his mouth. 

“I don’t need to find out what it’s like to lick my own butt.” 

“If you are making an implication that while in feline form I performed such an action,” Loki warned, waiting to see what Tony would do. 

He leaned forward, head still in his hands. “Should I be making that implication? Because I honestly hadn’t thought of that until now, but you suggesting it is really suspicious—”

“—Enough,” Loki said, reaching for another cookie. Tony smiled, not amused enough for a laugh, but happy. “When should you like to make our next trip?” 

“To where?” Tony asked, reaching for the plate of cookies. 

“I will have to give it some thought,” Loki said. “Unless you wish to spend some time on Midgard,” he offered. It didn’t exactly surprise him when Tony shook his head. “What would you be in the mood for?” 

“Something like that invitation party thing we went to would be nice,” Tony said, grabbing his tea. 

Loki quirked an eyebrow. He understood that Tony’d had fun there, but he was still surprised. “You’d like to go to such an event again?” He asked when Tony was too busy plunging a sugar cookie into his tea to notice his quirked eyebrow.

“You were happy there,” Tony said nonchalantly, taking a bite out of his tea soaked cookie. “It’d be fun to do that again.” Tony looked up when he realized that Loki wasn’t answering. Loki grabbed his mug to take a sip. “You’ve been a lot happier lately,” Tony said. He grinned a little. “Do I want to know why?” 

Loki traced his finger around the rim of the mug. “That party,” he said, feeling unusually open today, “was when I realized that I have what I want.” 

Tony tilted his head to the side. “Weren’t we just talking about how you don’t?” 

Loki let out a deep breath. “I do,” he said. “I have a family in you.” He set the mug down. “And I know that our children will come, I just have to be—”

“—Patient,” Tony finished for him. 

“Yes.” Loki took a sip of the warm herbal tea. Bright peppermint flitted on his tongue. “When the appropriate time comes, it will be superior to rushing it now,” he said, looking to Tony with certainty. He’d given it extensive thought. When he was calmer, and less prone to making decisions based on fears. Tony would need time to grieve, and he would need Loki’s full attention. “And in any case, I have come to realize that I would like a good deal more years with you just to myself.” 

Tony laughed, glancing away. “You don’t want to share me with a screaming infant?” 

“Or even a demanding seven year old, no.” Loki smiled at Tony, feeling certain. It still hurt to want, but he knew he’d be happier in the long run. 

“We’re going to really have to make sure our walls are soundproof,” Tony thought aloud. “I might have to invent something special.” 

“Magic,” Loki said. 

Tony scoffed. “Weren’t you just lecturing me on not using it for whatever?” He asked, waving his hands around. 

“Sound proofing a room is not the equivalent of bathing our pets,” Loki answered. He took a sip, pointedly ignoring Tony’s deadpan stare. “Perhaps we won’t need to soundproof at all. Perhaps I’ll just take up the habit of gagging you instead.” 

“You wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to stroke your ego,” Tony said with certainty. There was a soft scratching sound, then Andor was crawling up onto the table. “I told you,” Tony said, doing nothing as the ram shoved its face into the plate of cookies. 

Loki grabbed Andor by his helmet and pulled him away, taking the plate in the same instance. Andor growled but knew better than to snap at Loki’s fingers. It didn’t help that Brynjar had woken up and was now pressing up against his friend’s side, mewing pathetically for a treat. Loki extended a sprinkle covered cookie towards them.

“You’re spoiling them,” Tony said with a sigh.

“They can’t be spoiled,” Loki answered, conjuring up more cookies from the cabinet. 

Tony grabbed his mug and leaned back in his chair. “They have learned behaviors, so they can be spoiled,” he argued halfheartedly. “They didn’t ask to come in the bedroom all of the time until you started opening the door for them when they cried.” 

Loki stroked his hand over Andor’s fur. “They were crying to be let in.” 

“Once,” Tony said. “And it would’ve only been once if you hadn’t started the habit.” 

“We let them sleep on the bed before that,” Loki said. 

Tony grabbed a cookie from the plate. “ _You_ let them sleep on the bed,” Tony said, feeding the cookie to Brynjar. Loki smiled at the small gesture, feeling warm towards Tony again. 

He did have what he wanted. A life with Tony was worth fighting for and worth every sacrifice he’d made. He knew the future would have hardships, but it would be better than he could’ve ever asked for. “Do you want to work on revamping the atrium today?” Tony asked. He pulled a crumb from Brynjar’s fur. 

“After we have had our showers,” Loki said. There were blood stains on Tony’s shoulder and splatters across both of them. Tony smiled softly, taking another cookie that Andor decided to fight his friend for. 

“Alright,” Tony said, contentedly waving a new cookie back and forth, enjoying the way the rams rocked their bodies in sync with the motion.

Loki would enjoy watching Tony dote on their pets until the dear rams ran off in search of some small destruction. Then he was taking Tony into the shower with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with updates on this one! There are a couple of things I'd like to do with it still, but it'd be helpful to me if you let me know which parts/what about this story you remember enjoying the most! :)


	75. A Standing Invitation

That they had a mailbox at their castle home was one of those bizarre, uncanny things that Tony had just come to accept. There was no explanation. Loki didn’t seem to think it was at all interesting that there was a post and a red box and a flag exactly like the one that would’ve sat on a street in Midgard suburbia. He just pointed out that Tony never made the effort to check it, and Tony responded by pointing out that none of the mail was ever for him. 

Today, however, he’d checked. Maybe out of boredom, maybe because he still wanted an explanation. But he checked. 

For the very first time, it wasn’t stuffed with letters from Loki’s mother. He turned the green envelope over. _To Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark and Loki Laufey-Odinson_

Well. Technically, his name _was_ on the cover. 

Tony ripped it open. 

 

Loki was sitting with his feet up on the table in his study, absently petting Andor as he read a book. When Tony entered, Loki didn’t look up. Tony cleared his throat. Brynjar turned his head to stare at Tony, but he seemed to be the only one aware of Tony’s presence. He watched Tony from his spot on the desk. “Loki.” 

A page rustled. 

Tony rolled his eyes, knowing damn well that Loki knew he was there. He strode over to the desk, shoving Loki’s pile of books aside to sit down by Loki’s feet. “So,” Tony said as Brynjar crawled into his lap, “we have a dinner to attend.” 

Loki’s sharp gaze flicked up. 

Tony grinned. So now Loki could hear him. “I know your schedule’s clear for the next three weeks, so pick a date.” He crossed his arms, the letter held between his fingers. Perplexed, Loki studied Tony’s face for clues before snatching the envelope. 

Loki let out a put upon sigh the moment his eyes finished darting across the letter. “We’re going,” Tony said. 

“The invitation is only a courtesy,” Loki said. He flicked the letter and the envelope aside, where they disappeared in a flash of light.

“Yeah?” Tony asked. He put on his best dumb mortal face and waited for an explanation. 

Loki glanced at him, grasping the sides of the cover of his open book as if about to read again. “The invitation is only a formality to express good will. To accept it would be to place a burden upon our host to serve us. It is far more polite to decline.” 

“Is that why I have five more of them?” Tony asked, digging them out of his back pocket. The look on Loki’s face was priceless. “We’re going.” 

Loki dropped his head back, letting out an exasperated groan. He tossed his book at the desk and scooped Andor up. “Must we?” 

Loki made faces at Andor, tilting him back and forth as the ram attempted to run in vain.

Tony set his hand on Loki’s shin. “Look,” Tony said. “Idunn is the one person in Asgard that we _know_ is on our side. She’s the entire reason that this is possible.” Loki lowered Andor into his lap, expression fading into something more serious. “We should go.” 

Loki took a shallow breath. He pulled his feet away from the desk and Tony’s reach. “Since when do you check the mail?” 

“Since you decided you’d rather ignore it than accept a nice dinner invitation because you don’t want to spend the evening in _boring conversation_ ,” Tony said, impersonating him at the end. 

Loki shot him a scathing look that didn’t fluster Tony. “Now are you going to help me write the return letter or what?” 

“Yes,” Loki said, giving Tony another dirty look as he tugged open the desk drawer for a quill. 

He knew that Tony was right. He just didn’t like it.

 

Idunn was just as gorgeous as Tony remembered her, only this time Loki knew that Tony thought Idunn was gorgeous. Loki kept tossing Tony put upon and knowing looks whenever he had the chance. It wasn’t that he thought that Tony would stray from him. Not for a heart beat. It was that he’d have to listen to Tony remark on how radiant she was when they got back home because he knew it’d get a jealous rise out of Loki. And Tony loved that. 

And Loki adored that Tony wanted to get his attention by bringing out his jealous and possessive streak, not that he’d admit it. 

They were seated around a table in Idunn’s garden. The sun had just set, and the sky was a hazy dusk of stars and faded light. Glass jars with fluttering golden lights inside had been set out on the table to light their meal. “It is a pleasure to see you two in person again,” Idunn said. “Last time we did not have the opportunity to be better acquainted.”

“We meant to be here sooner,” Tony said. “We’ve just been so busy—” 

Idunn’s husband waved him off, excusing it. “—We are happy to have you whenever that may be.” Tony glanced at Loki, but his face was hardened into that polite and frighteningly good at politics mask that Tony wasn’t fond of. “I have to admit, I have been wonderfully curious about how you find life now that you are no longer mortal.” 

“It’s interesting,” Tony said. “Food tastes different. That was weird at first.” Tony grinned at Loki, trying to lighten his mood. “I like some of the foods he does now, although there are still some liquors I can’t hold.” 

Loki’s composure broke for a moment as he reacted to Tony’s statement. “There are liquors that Asgardians do not have a tolerance to as well,” he explained, as if it was just an interesting fact and not something that Tony had experimented with. Loki didn’t want them to look unfavorably upon Tony. He wasn’t entirely sure why Idunn had spared him and Tony in the first place, and it made him weary. 

“That is true,” Idunn said cheerfully, looking to her husband with an amused smile. “That’s something you can attest to, isn’t it, dear?” The way Bragi was already smiling back at her implied that they’d had this conversation many times before. 

“Perhaps if my darling wife’s apple cider weren’t so finely crafted, I would hold it with far greater grace.” There was shared humor between them. She smiled back at him, as flattered as he was doting when he said it. 

“Do you have any of that cider lying around?” Tony asked. 

Idunn answered before Loki could say anything to soften Tony’s request. “I make it in the fall, and I will be certain to send you some.” She seemed utterly pleased by Tony’s request. Loki had to admit that it was going well, but they’d barely been here. 

“We would love that,” Tony said. “I can send you back some stuff from Earth. Would you like that? We have so many different types of liquor. Although, I don’t think that any of it would be easy for you to get drunk off of,” Tony said, turning to Loki. “Right? You always bring your own.” 

Loki smiled tightly. Why did Tony have to talk about this, of all things? The warning was in his eyes even as his voice stayed gentle. “The value may lie in the novelty of it,” Loki said. “Midgard does pride itself on variety.” He needed to draw the conversation away to something more respectable. “Perhaps you would like to share some of your customs or inventions?” 

Tony took a breath, wishing that Loki weren’t so anxious tonight. It’d be fine with Idunn. Tony knew that, even if Loki didn’t believe it. He just wished Loki would relax and see that it was okay. They weren’t on trial all the time. “I’m not sure what’s interesting,” Tony said. “What’d you notice most about Earth when you landed?” Tony asked, trying to draw the conversation into a direction that he hoped would make Loki more comfortable. 

Most of what Loki had thought during the invasion had been unflattering, so he searched for something he’d found in staying on Earth with Tony. “Tell them about Jarvis,” Loki said. 

“Jarvis?” Tony questioned. 

“We have nothing like him,” Loki said. He allowed himself a small smile. “And in any event, he is like another member of our household.” 

That got Tony talking. 

No one talked about getting drunk again or wild escapades, which Loki counted as a win. Idunn and Bragi took a shine to Tony. They were lighthearted and charming the entire meal, and when it ended, Loki could not find a single thing to criticize. He didn’t know what to think. 

Tony linked their arms together as they got up after the meal, walking a few steps away from the table to say goodbye in the center of the garden. “I had a wonderful time,” Tony said, utterly sincere. Loki was a little stiff in his grip, but he immediately echoed the same sentiment. 

“I am so glad you came,” Idunn said to Tony before turning her gaze to Loki. “I am delighted to see you two so happy together.” Loki was shocked to feel his cheeks heat. He knew right then that she was sincere. “I am pleased to see you so happy, Loki.” 

Loki didn’t know what to say. Tony stepped up, and Loki was grateful for it. “It looks good on him, doesn’t it? You should see him when our pets get a bath too, he’s really pleased then—” Loki let out a sigh, retorting out of habit. 

“—Perhaps because it is the one time you do as I ask with them.” 

To both of their surprise, the other couple began to laugh. “You have chosen your husband well,” Bragi told Loki. 

Tony and Loki both looked at each other at the word. Tony just gave Loki a soft smile that was then mirrored. Neither corrected him. 

“Oh,” Idunn said, as if she’d forgotten something. “I had set aside some food for you to take back. Tony, would you help carry it?” 

“Sure,” Tony said as Bragi started to direct him towards the table. 

Idunn smiled at Loki. She spoke quietly so that the others would not hear. “You are so kind with him, Loki.” There was some admiration in her voice. She set her hand on his shoulder. “I know you did not believe me last time, but nothing gives me so much pleasure as seeing the ones I have given to from this garden happy in their lives. I wish to see you stay with him. You both can always find sanctuary in my garden. Do you understand?” She asked, her startlingly golden eyes staring into the depths of his own. 

Loki’s throat felt tight. Her offer was overwhelming. “Thank you,” he managed, still bewildered by her support. She squeezed his arm. 

“You deserve happiness as much as another, Loki.” Her hand slipped from his shoulder as Tony appeared in that moment, carrying a large basket. “We’ll see you next time,” she said. 

Tony balanced the basket against his hip as he reached for Loki’s hand. “You bet,” he said. Loki’s gaze lingered on Idunn as they left, wondering if she knew how much that offer meant to his peace of mind. 

 

“So,” Tony said as they appeared in their kitchen. “Where should I put this, _husband_?” 

Loki glanced to Tony with a question on his lips, but it vanished when he saw the proud, confident smirk on Tony’s face. “We never have undertaken that formality,” Loki observed. 

Tony set the massive basket down on the table. Then he took a few steps until he was standing in front of Loki, the rams dashing into the room and running around their heels upon hearing their voices. Tony grabbed Loki’s hips. “Do we need to?” Tony asked. “I’ll go down to the courthouse if you want, babe.” 

Loki pulled Tony into him, ignoring the excited bleating at their feet. 

In truth, that ceremony had never featured prominently in Loki’s daydreams. It felt unnecessary. They were already committed; that’s all it would be, a formality. He wanted Tony to have royal titles that would grant him privileges and he wanted their children, but neither of those were contingent on a wedding ceremony.

“I have never seen the need,” Loki said honestly. 

“Me either,” Tony said, remembering how eating that apple had been his promise a million times over, just as Loki recalled how stealing it for Tony had been his own promise a million times over. Loki leaned down to kiss him. Tony threw himself into it, clinging to Loki as he pushed himself up on his toes. 

 

It was only later, when they were much less dressed and far more tired that Tony reached for Loki’s hand and said, “We’re taking them up on their next dinner offer.” 

Loki let out a loud sigh. 

“It’ll be fun,” Tony promised. “They’re both nice. And I bet they know how to have a good time.” 

Loki’s eyes shifted back and forth as he thought on that, but he didn’t have anything snappy to say. Instead he rolled over, pining Tony with an amused and affectionate kiss that distracted his far-more-than-a-husband husband.


End file.
